


Into Your Gravity

by sockyferret



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Drama & Romance, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Time Travel, Time Turner
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 14:21:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14357283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sockyferret/pseuds/sockyferret
Summary: When Luna makes a terrible mistake and ends up in a time she never imagined she'd been in, what will happen before she gets back? And what will she do when she realizes that Tom Riddle is in her year?





	1. Curiosity

Set me free, leave me be.  
I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.  
Here I am, and I stand so tall  
just the way I'm supposed to be.  
But you're onto me, and all over me.  
Gravity - Sara Bareilles

***

"Hello," Luna said pleasantly as she opened to compartment door to reveal Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Ginny Weasley. The train was starting, its whistle blowing. It lurched forward, and Luna drifted into a vacant seat next to Ginny.

"Hey, Luna," said Ron, swallowing a laugh as Luna leaned over to pull up one of her violet knee-high socks that had slumped down, her wand tucked behind her ear where a radish earring dangled.

"How was your break?" Hermione asked.

"It was lovely. My father and I spent four weeks in Sweden searching for a live Crumple-Horned Snorkack specimen for a photography special in The Quibbler."

Hermione blinked, then took a deep breath. "And did you find one?" she asked in a controlled voice with a pained expression on her face.

"No," Luna replied. "Our theory is that they got wind we were looking for them, and they all left the area. They are very shy creatures, you know."

Hermione did not seem to trust herself to say much else and instead shot a glance at Ron, who was contorting his mouth in an effort not to giggle.

"That's too bad, Luna," Ginny said, rolling her eyes in Ron's direction.

Luna sighed. "Yes, it's all right though. How have you all been?"

Each of her friends provided a brief summary of their exploits over summer break, including both the mundane ("My Great Uncle Algie brought me a Wiggentree for my birthday!") and the more serious ("The Order asked us to stay at Hogwarts as long as possible; they want to know where I am. But we're still going to keep working on the Horcruxes.").

"Did you see that article in The Quibbler yesterday supporting you, Harry?" Neville asked with excitement sometime after noon. "It even discussed that The Daily Prophet is completely compromised!"

"Ah, yes," Luna said, nodding her head, "it was right on the front page next to the exposé about the Ministry of Magic's secret heliopath army."

Hermione's lips pursed, all thought of the Second Wizarding War forgotten. "You do know, of course, that heliopaths don't even really exist, right?" she said through gritted teeth, the words spilling out before she could stop herself.

A rare sour look crossed Luna's face to rival Hermione's. "Of course they do. Did you even read the article?"

At that moment, the door to their compartment slid open, revealing the smiling trolley witch with her cart full of sweets. The group fumbled with coins and made their purchases, then settled back down. Luna was biting into a particularly chewy licorice wand when she pointed at Neville and said, "What's the matter with Trevor?"

Trevor the toad was on Neville's lap, and at the current moment, he seemed to be choking on a very long, fine gold chain, making a raspy croaking sound over and over.

"Oh, no! Trevor!" Neville cried.

A few moments of panic ensued as half of the group jumped to their feet, some reaching for their wands. Neville picked the choking toad up with both hands and held him up in the air with the offending chain dangling from his mouth. Luna remained calm and snatched the toad from Neville's hands without a word. She brought the toad close to her, clutching him near her abdomen like a precious treasure, ignoring the retching noises.

Then she bent her head over him, a sheet of long blonde hair obscuring the others' view of what it was she was doing. Neville bounced with anxiety in his seat. After a few moments, the toad's gagging noises subsided. When Luna looked up again, she was clutching the long gold chain in one hand and a none-the-worse-for-wear Trevor in the other. "He's fine," she said, handing the toad back to Neville. "Just a bit surprised, I think."

"You've saved him! What did you do?" said Neville, the color returning to his face as he inspected Trevor from all angles.

"I just had to coax it out of him," Luna replied, as though discussing the weather.

While the rest of the group crowded around Neville and Trevor, Luna inspected at the chain in her hand in greater detail, realizing it was a necklace. She held it up in front of her face, and a tiny golden hourglass swayed back and forth, drawing her eyes to follow it. The hourglass glistened with both toad saliva and its own metallic luster. Luna draped it around her neck. She picked up the little hourglass and noted it to be on some sort of axle. She turned it around once in her hands before giving the hourglass a casual flick, causing it to twirl itself into a blur on its axis. A faint smile bloomed on her face, and she flicked the spinning hourglass a few more times to keep it in motion. A shriek startled her into looking up to see Hermione staring at her with a pasty-white face.

"Luna! That's my Time-Turner!" Hermione cried out.

But a moment later, Luna was gone.

A stunned silence oppressed their compartment, until Ron stuttered, "Erm, well, so she's gone back in time, then?"

"Oh, no," Hermione squeaked. She began pacing back and forth, pulling at her hair, her breath becoming rapid and ragged. "Oh, no. Oh, no."

Neville and Ginny had dumbstruck looks on their faces, their jaws hanging and eyes wide.

"Why do you have a Time-Turner? I thought you gave it back to McGonagall years ago," Harry asked, pushing a shaky hand through his hair, causing it to stand on end.

Hermione collapsed into Luna's vacated seat and began to sniffle. "I - I did give it back, but she sent it b-back to me! I w-was worried about being Head Girl and doing all the Huh-Horcrux research and my N.E.W.T.s! She gave it to me towards the end of last school year, before the Ministry was taken!" Her lip quivered, and she burst into tears.

Ron met Harry's eyes, grimaced, and said. "Hermione, are you really that worried about your grades when there's a bloody Wizarding War going on?" But as Hermione's body racked with sobs, his face softened. He sat down next to her and awkwardly patted her back. "Listen, it'll be all right."

"No, it w-won't!" Hermione wailed. "I left it in my pocket, it must have fallen out! And we've - we've no idea where she's gone! Those Ministry-issue Time-Turners aren't intended for that kind of thing! Who knows how long she was spinning it; they're only meant f-for traveling short distances!" Her face dropped into her hands.

Ron looked to shoot a pleading expression at Harry for help, then pointedly back down at Hermione.

Harry swallowed hard. "Listen, Hermione, we'll talk to McGonagall as soon as we get up to the school, all right?" He fidgeted. "I'm sure she will know what to do. Luna will be all right," he said in an unconvincing tone.

They finished the rest of the train ride in silence except for Hermione's intermittent sniffling, avoiding each other's eyes.

***

"Luna! That's my Time-Tuner!" Hermione screeched, her face pasty-white.

Luna looked up at the sound of her name, but as she did so, the hourglass ceased spinning. The train compartment around her began dissolving at a rapid pace, interrupting Hermione's sentence before the final words were spoken, and she felt herself yanked backwards as though flying through the air at high speed. Her blonde hair whipped forward into her face and her already open mouth let out a scream, the sound of which she couldn't hear. Her hair obscured her vision, but all she could see was a blur of colors all around. This sensation seemed to last an eternity, and Luna had just been able to form a complete thought to wonder when it would stop when she felt solid ground beneath her feet. She stumbled and toppled over, sprawling onto the ground and bumping her right elbow in the process.

She lay face down on the ground a moment, her heart pounding in her ears. She took several deep breaths to steady herself. Then she propped herself on her non-throbbing elbow to look around and realized she was still in the compartment on the Hogwarts Express. The others seemed to have left, however, as she was now quite alone. Unsteady and trembling, she got to her feet and peered out the window. The train was at a stop, the night sky twinkling above it, and she could see the glittering light spilling out of the windows of Hogwarts castle in the distance.

Luna exhaled a breath she hadn't been aware of holding. "I'm at Hogwarts," she said to herself in reassurance. She picked up the small hourglass around her neck once more and scrutinized it, wondering if perhaps it was a Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes product. She then slid the compartment door open and peered up and down the hall. When she didn't see anyone, she moved out into the hall. She stuck her head into a couple of other compartments, but they were also empty. Getting off the train, she glanced around. Still seeing no one, not even the thestrals pulling the carriages, she looked back towards to familiar turrets of the castle. Then she shrugged, and began trekking up to the school on foot.


	2. Wrackspurts

On the bridge, levitating because we want to.  
When the unknown will surround you,  
there is no right time.  
Levitation - Beach House

***

Luna reached the large, oak doors of the castle and pulled one open. She stepped into the warm entrance hall and heard the familiar sounds of voices spilling out of the Great Hall. She crossed towards the doors leading to the Great Hall, her soft footsteps on the stone floor echoing. Just as she reached out to open the door, a voice behind her said, "May I help you with something, miss?"

She turned towards the speaker with a smile and her mouth popped open in surprise. "Oh!"

Albus Dumbledore stood across the entrance hall from her. A crowd of nervous-looking first years was behind him, some of them leaning around him to get a look at her. His beard and hair were a deep auburn, and much shorter in length than she had ever seen them before. "Miss?" he repeated.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Her heart leapt - could he be alive? She took a step toward him. "Your hair is lovely!"

Some of the first year students laughed. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows and peered over his spectacles at her, the corners of his mouth turning upwards. "Thank you," he said. "I'm afraid I don't know your name."

Luna hesitated. "You don't?" She tilted her head to the side, furrowed her brow, and twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. "I'm Luna Lovegood."

Dumbledore inspected her a brief moment. "Well, Miss Lovegood, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you to join us for the Start-of-Term Feast. Our first year students here," he said, gesturing a hand towards the young pupils behind him, "are about to be Sorted. Following the feast, if you would be be so kind as to meet me with me for a cup of tea, I would be most delighted."

Luna nodded, though she was somewhat puzzled. Perhaps this was the work of Wrackspurts in her brain. Perhaps they had taken advantage of her moment of confusion on the train to further discombobulate her. Continuing to twirl her hair, she said, "Thank you, sir."

As Dumbledore led the first year students into the Great Hall, Luna followed. She looked around the Hall, oblivious to the curious stares of the assembled students at each of the four tables. Her eyes found Gryffindor table and scanned each side of the table - then each side again. Not seeing her friends there, she made her way to Ravenclaw table out of habit and dropped into an empty seat next to a raven-haired girl she didn't recognize. In fact, she realized as she looked down the long table of Ravenclaws, she didn't recognize anyone at all.

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear the Wrackspurts, she resigned herself to at least having an interesting research opportunity which she could present to her father at a later date when the confusion had passed. "Hello there," she said genially to the girl with the black hair.

The girl had been gawking at Luna's clothing and snapped her mouth shut. "Erm, hello. How do you do?"

"Full of Wrackspurts, unfortunately. And you?" Luna said. She reached for a goblet of juice and missed the look of bewilderment the other girl shot at her brunette friend next to her.

Further conversation was cut short as a wizened man rose from the center of the teacher's table and the students fell silent immediately. The old man was wearing navy robes which appeared to be made of velvet with an intricate gold trim, his white beard neat and well-kept. He smiled at all of the students with both pride and benevolence in a way similar to a father looking at his children, then spoke in a deep, dignified voice. "It is my sincerest pleasure to welcome you all back to a new year at Hogwarts!" He look around at them all, eyes moving from one table to the next. His eyes lingered for a moment on Luna, who, having not changed into her school robes in all her confusion, stood out in her bright yellow sweater like a dandelion amongst the sea of students in black. He continued, "In these dark times, both within our own world as well as that of Muggles, it is more important than ever to uphold the traditions of this school, and produce well-trained, well-educated, and competent witches and wizards. I am sure you will all make us quite proud. Now! Please, let the Sorting begin!"

The elderly man sat down to respectful applause from the students, and Dumbledore led the first years up to the front of the hall where the Sorting Hat sat quite still atop a three-legged stool.

An expectant hush settled over the Hall, and Luna leaned forward to listen to the Hat. As everyone watched, the Hat stirred, then opened its rip near the brim to sing.

Once the Hat's song was finished, Luna cheered with the rest of the students. And each time a new Ravenclaw was announced, she clapped extra hard with the rest of her House. Several of the other Ravenclaws near her raised their eyebrows, which she did not appear to notice. Throughout the feast, Luna chattered idly at the black-haired girl next her, whose polite confusion progressed at a steady rate into utter bewilderment as Luna discussed her thoughts regarding the Ministry of Magic's foul plot to replace all the galleons in Gringotts with Leprechaun gold for "nefarious tax purposes".

As the feast ended and students began filing out to go to their respective common rooms, Luna remained behind. She yawned and stretched, feeling a bit tired after such an unusual start of term.

"Tired, Miss Lovegood?" a voice asked behind her.

Luna looked up into Dumbledore's face, so different but familiar at the same time. She smiled. "Well, I've had quite a long day, and as pleased as I am to see you, sir, I'm certain you are just a product of the Wrackspurts in my brain. Although," she continued matter-of-factly, "the whole thing is rather curious, as I've never heard of them causing quite such realistic hallucinations before. Perhaps I am particularly susceptible to their infection due to the roasted Dirigible plums my father and I had for dinner last night." She cupped one of her radish-like earrings in her small hand to show him as she mused.

Dumbledore smiled such that the wrinkles to the corners of his sparkling eyes deepened. "A possibility, certainly. I apologize for your fatigue. I do hope you are feeling up to speaking with me over that cup of tea, however."

"Oh, absolutely. A cup of tea sounds wonderful."

She stood up and followed Dumbledore out of the Great Hall, then up several staircases to his office. He did not lead her to the Headmaster's office, but rather an ordinary office in the Transfiguration department. He gestured to one of the comfortable chairs in front of the desk for her to sit, and as he busied himself with the kettle, Luna gazed about his office. Her line of sight settled on the enormous bookcase behind his desk, and she read with curiosity titles such as Animagi: The Complete Guide, Blast!: What To Do When Transfiguration Goes Terribly Wrong, and Transfiguration for the Advanced Performer.

Professor Dumbledore set a steaming cup of tea in front of her, then followed her gaze to the books behind him. "Ah! Most like a Ravenclaw," he chuckled.

Luna smiled and picked up her tea. "Thank you very much for the tea, sir."

"Certainly." Dumbledore seated himself behind his desk, then pressed his fingertips together in front of his face. "Now, Miss Lovegood. As compelling as your theory regarding the Wrackspurts is, I must suggest that perhaps something else entirely is occurring at this moment. Unless I am much mistaken, the Hogwarts you walked into this evening was not quite the Hogwarts you were expecting it to be."

"That's true, sir."

Dumbledore nodded. "May I inspect the necklace you are wearing, Miss Lovegood? I noticed it when you were in the entrance hall."

"Of course." Luna lifted the gold chain from around her neck and placed the hourglass into Dumbledore's waiting hand.

He held the hourglass up before his spectacles, inspecting it for a moment.

"That necklace gave me quite a fright earlier this evening," Luna said. "I'm fairly sure it's one of Fred and George's new joke products. I will have to tell them it's quite good."

After another moment of peering closely at the hourglass, turning it back and forth to see all sides of it, Dumbledore lay the necklace out on the desk between the two of them. "I'm not certain who Fred and George are, I am afraid. This is no joke product, however. As I suspected, this is a Time-Turner, Miss Lovegood."

Luna tilted her head to the side. "A Time-Turner?"

"Indeed. Would you mind explaining to me how you came by this necklace?"

She explained to him about getting on the Hogwarts Express, and how Trevor the toad had begun to choke on the Time-Turner. Her story took a detour as she discussed at length an interesting centaur-shaped spot she had noted on Trevor's back, which Dumbledore listened to with rapt attention. Then she finished her story by describing the sensation she had experienced following spinning the hourglass and how she had found herself on an abandoned train.

"And then you came into the entrance hall, where you were met by myself," Dumbledore finished for her.

Luna nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Curious. It is as I thought, then. Miss Lovegood, I do not suspect Wrackspurts are the cause of your predicament at this moment, but rather that you have gone back in time by using this Time-Turner."

She pondered this for the smallest of moments before accepting it. "Interesting," she said, unruffled. "I've heard of Time-Turners, of course, although I've never seen one before. My father will be quite interested in this when I get back to my own time."

Dumbledore let out another chuckle, settling back into his chair. "I suppose I couldn't ask for a better response to having gone accidentally back in time than that."

"So, you teach Transfiguration right now, then?" she asked, eyes returning to the books behind him.

"I do. I must ask you, Miss Lovegood, as we discuss the situation you are in, that you do not reveal anything additional about the future to me. Although I am quite curious, it would be most unwise." He paused. "Not to mention a violation of a number of wizarding laws," he added as an afterthought.

"Certainly, Professor."

"I will ask, however, what year you happen to be coming to us from?"

"1997," Luna replied.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at her answer. "Oh, dear. I'm afraid you've gone quite a bit further back than you intended to go. Although, I suppose you did not intend to go anywhere at all!" he said in a cheery voice.

"What year is it now?" asked Luna.

"It is September of 1943, Miss Lovegood. I have always been quite poor at mathematics, but I believe that is fifty-four years in the past for you."

Luna was finding herself surprised today at a much higher frequency than her usual baseline. "Fifty-four years?" she repeated. "But I'm sure I didn't turn the Time-Turner that much! That's nearly four million hours, and at an hour per turn…."

"Well, no. But Time-Turners are not really meant for going back such far distances. I imagine that spinning it continuously for as long as you did caused your Time-Turner to break." He picked up the hourglass on the desk and held it out to her in his palm. "Do you see how the glass is broken?"

Peering at the Time-Turner, Luna did indeed notice a long, jagged crack which had appeared in the glass. Luna traced the crack with a slow finger. "So...I'm here because the Time-Turner broke? And it threw me back in time?"

"I suspect so," he replied, laying the hourglass back down on the table. "Time is a mercurial master, Miss Lovegood." He took a sip of his own tea. "Now, then. Which House were you in, are you in, or will you be in, depending on how you look at it? I strongly suspect Ravenclaw." Once Luna had nodded, he continued, "Ah, of course. I knew it the moment I saw you. Well, then, you most certainly know your way to Ravenclaw Tower."

"Excuse me, sir?" Luna asked.

"You must continue your schooling, of course, Miss Lovegood. Your time in the past will not be wasted, not under my watch. Which year are you in?"

"Sixth. But won't I be going back to my own time?"

"Absolutely," he said briskly, "as soon as I figure out how to get you there. Now, make a list of your classes for me, and then off you get! I'm certain the sixth year girls will greet you quite warmly."

She took the quill and parchment he proffered to her and scribbled down her class list, feeling somewhat uneasy. Luna pushed the completed list back across the desk to him, and Dumbledore examined it through his spectacles. "Excellent! I shall alert Headmaster Dippet of this unusual situation, although I do think we should keep it quiet from the rest of the teachers. And of course, you must be discreet with the other students. I will have you schedule and school robes waiting for you in the morning. The necessary books and equipment, too, although fortunately I see you made it here with your wand. I suppose you'd like some clothes as well," he said thoughtfully, taking in her outfit.

"What should I tell people when they ask me why I'm here, Professor?" she asked.

He pondered this for a moment, then his face brightened. "We will just tell everyone you are my Aunt Honoria's great-granddaughter, previously schooled in Koldovstoretz, come here for an exchange. Honoria was a spinster, but nobody need know that," he said with a conspiratorial tone.

"Koldovstoretz? But I don't speak any Russian!"

Dumbledore waved a hand at her protest. "Neither does anyone else at this school! It will be fine. Now, now, don't look so worried. It will all be well in the end. It always is." He stood up from the desk. "I bid you goodnight, and sleep well! You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow, and we wouldn't want you dozing off in your first day of lessons, now would we?"

Taking his cue, Luna stood up as well and moved towards the door.

"Goodnight, Miss Lovegood," he said, bowing to her over his desk as she opened the door and stepped out of his office.

"Goodnight, then," she said, and shut the door behind her.


	3. Introductions

I met someone, I'll call him the breeze,  
he sent me flying.  
I met someone who terrifies me.  
Waving Wild - Arum Rae

***

Shutting the door to Professor Dumbledore's office behind her, Luna became lost in her thoughts as the gravity of her situation began to settle down on her. She crinkled her nose as she walked through the dark, quiet corridors of the castle alone, considering what would happen if even Dumbledore could not figure out how to get her back to her own time. If she never saw Ginny or Neville or Harry again. If she never saw her father again.

Her feet carried her the path toward Ravenclaw Tower, not needing to consult her mind in order to find their way along a route they had walked so many times in the past. Her eyes followed the cracks between the stones in the corridor floor, and she cheered herself with the consideration of how interesting an article she could write for The Quibber in the event she was in fact able to return to her own time. This thought induced a small, dreamy smile to spring up on her face, and it was with this expression on her face that she ran headlong into someone, causing them to stumble.

Thoughts interrupted, she said, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Clearly."

Luna looked up to see whom she had run into, and was met with the sight of a boy about her age. He had black hair with a slight wave to it, swept to the side and back with a carelessness that felt calculated, hanging just a bit into eyes such a dark blue they were almost black in the dim torchlight lighting the corridor. He had a shiny Prefect badge pinned to his chest, and he was looking down an aristocratic nose at her, past sharp cheekbones, black brows furrowing and forming a line of irritation between them.

"What are you doing out of your dormitory? It's after hours."

"I know. I was just headed there now. I'm...a new student," said Luna. She offered a benign smile which he did not return.

His eyes flickered from her earrings, to her purple socks, to her wand tucked behind her ear, and at last back to her face. His left brow raised a fraction higher than the right. "I see. Which house are you in?"

"Ravenclaw," she said. "I suppose...I'm a bit lost?" It hadn't been her intent for it to sound like a question, but she felt out of practice at being dishonest. She supposed she would need to get better at it.

"I'll take you to your common room," he said. "You aren't supposed to be out at this time of night alone." He turned on his heel and began walking towards Ravenclaw Tower.

Luna had to hurry and take several steps to keep up with his long strides. "That's quite nice of you," she said.

"You say you're a new student?" he asked, as though she hadn't spoken.

"Yes. I've just arrived here today."

"We've all just arrived here today; it's the first day back."

Seeing his smirk and choosing to ignore it, Luna said, "Of course. But I'm completely new!"

The boy fell silent, and their footsteps echoed between them. Luna was just thinking they had reached a place of companionable silence when he spoke again. "Why are you coming here all of a sudden?" he asked. "Surely you're in at least fifth or sixth year. Where have you been going until now?"

"Oh." She reviewed the lie Dumbledore had concocted before responding. "Well, you see, I'm a relative of Professor Dumbledore's. I'm his...first cousin, twice removed."

The boy looked sideways at her at this. "You're related to Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes, I'm rather fond of him. I've been going to Koldovstoretz, but my mother felt it would be a good time to do an exchange year here at Hogwarts. And with my dear Cousin Albus here as a professor, the opportunity could not have been better."

"You're Russian?" he asked, words heavy with skepticism.

"Ah, no. I'm English," she said, eyelashes fluttering downward. "My, um, father is Russian, though, and wanted me to attend Koldovstoretz."

"You speak Russian, then?"

She hesitated a fraction of a breath, less than the time between one echoing footstep to another. "Yes."

He narrowed his eyes. "You're lying." His voice had changed; previously, even through the smirks, sarcasm, and skepticism, he had maintained a careful cover of politeness in his tone, which now fell away.

Luna felt indignant despite knowing this was a factual statement. "I am not."

"Yes, you are. I don't know why you are, but you are."

"Well, that's awfully presumptuous of you. You've only just met me, and I'm quite excited to be here for my first day, and you're being remarkably unwelcoming. At Koldovstoretz, you would be made to stand outside in the snow and be subject to a Toe Biter jinx as punishment for your lack of hospitality."

The boy stopped walking to stare at her, and Luna took two more steps before stopping as well and looking back at him. Their eyes met, and for the first time she could ever recall, she felt she was being perceived by someone just as perceptive as she was. A second passed. The faintest shiver traveled from her head to her toes. She didn't blink, and the boy frowned. He broke their eye contact. "Fine," he said, continuing to walk, brushing past her, crossing into the intermittent moonbeams cast onto the floor through the windows in the corridor. "What do I care if you're full of rubbish."

***

The girl flitted after him. "I'm Luna Lovegood," she said.

"Not really a Russian name, is it?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "We immigrated once or twice."

"Lovegood...I think I've heard of it. You're pure-blood, then?"

"The polite thing to do would be to then provide your name, sir," she said, "but yes, I'm pure-blood." There was a bored tone to her voice that she didn't bother concealing.

"Tom Riddle," he said after a brief pause.

"Well, your name sounds familiar, too."

A look of disgust passed over his face like a shadow. "I'm certain you wouldn't have heard of it."

She shook her head, causing her waist-length blonde hair to undulate back and forth in gentle waves, catching the moonlight and winking it back at him. "If you say so."

Another lull in the conversation fell, and Tom stole the opportunity to further scrutinize the girl next to him once again. She was small, more than a full head shorter than him, and everything about her seemed to evoke a feeling that she was about to just up and float away: soft, wispy hair; thin frame; a gait more like drifting than walking; arching brows over grey eyes half-unfocused at least half the time.

As he watched her from the corner of his eye, she crouched near the ground. He was just about to ask her what she was doing when he saw a small, grey mouse approaching her outstretched hand, taking tentative steps into a square of light on the ground. The girl reached into a pocket in her skirt and pulled out a dinner roll which she must have pocketed from the feast earlier, broke off a small, mouse-sized piece, and offered it to the little creature. The mouse stood on its hind legs to sniff at the offering, whiskers twitching. Then it grasped the bit of bread in its tiny hands, placed the bread in its mouth, and scampered back out of sight.

"The cats and owls of this castle will thank you for fattening up their next meal," he said with a curl of his lip as she straightened back up. Her eyes met his, and he again was filled with the unpleasant sensation of translucency. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and spun the black stone ring on his left hand with the fingers of his right. He then dropped his hands to his sides and made fists instead, forcing himself to stop fidgeting.

Luna sniffed. "Perhaps. Either way, the mouse thanked me for providing her next meal."

Tom rolled his eyes and swept off down the corridor again. "Let's go. This has taken enough of my time already."

"And anyway," the girl said from behind him, taking multiple soft steps to keep his pace, "we all die eventually. That doesn't mean it's a waste to take a moment to share in life with one another."

He jerked his head around to look at her, but she was gazing out the windows, dragging a single finger along the wall as they went, and appeared minimally attentive to their conversation.

They reached a narrow spiral staircase, and Tom came to a halt. "Follow this staircase up to the entrance of the Ravenclaw common room," he said, pointing a long finger up the stairs.

"Thank you," she said, falling into a deep curtsy. "I suppose I'll see you around, then?" she asked as she stood back up.

Tom let out a short snicker, more a release of air combined with a cold, close-lipped smile than a laugh. "Sure."

"Excellent. I shall teach you all the Russian that I know."

"I expect that will be a very short lesson."

"By the way, what year are you in?"

"Sixth." Without another word, he turned his back on her, robes swishing behind him. He didn't spare a glance back at her, though he felt a prickling on the back of his neck that told him she was watching him go, and he disappeared back into the night of the castle.

***

Luna entered the common room and was comforted to see it was not that different than in her own time, with the same bookcases, the same domed starry ceiling, but with different Ravenclaws inside. A handful of students was still awake in the Common Room, and they all followed her with their eyes as she entered. Luna offered a smile to them, then proceeded her way to the staircase to the girls' dormitories.

Coming to the door with a small black plaque on it that said "Sixth Year", she knocked then entered. Several girls were already inside, including the girl with the black hair that Luna had sat next to during the feast. The girls were still awake, sitting on their beds, and there was one empty bed to the far right of the room. They looked up at her entrance, various shades of surprise evident on their faces.

"Hello," Luna said, crossing to the vacant bed and sitting down with a soft plop. "I'm a new student here; I'm in sixth year."

The black-haired girl was the first to speak. "Well, that explains a lot. We were all just sitting here getting ready for bed when the dormitory - stretched almost, and that extra bed appeared."

"I thought this castle couldn't surprise me anymore," said another girl with short brown hair, who was holding a large book and sitting on the bed closest to Luna.

A tall, very pretty girl with her hair in a braid strode across the dormitory to shake Luna's hand. "Lucinda McTavish," she said, right hand outstretched in front of her.

Luna stood up and shook Lucinda's hand with an exaggerated up-down motion that made the other girls laugh and shoot glances at each other, not quite sure if it was meant to be funny or not. "Luna Lovegood."

The other girls in the dormitory also introduced themselves, then as half of the young women returned to getting ready for bed, three of the girls sat down on Luna's bed with her to talk to her more: Lucinda McTavish; Lorraine Viridian, the brunette girl with the book; and Catalina Litner, the raven-haired girl, who preferred to be called Cat.

"Where are you from, Luna?" Lorraine asked.

"Well, I'm from England, but my father insisted I attend Koldovstoretz," she said, the lie coming easier the more she said it. She explained her distant relation to Professor Dumbledore, which seemed to impress the other girls.

"Dumbledore is one of my favorite professors," Lucinda said.

"Well, he's just brilliant!" Lorraine added.

"And a little bit barmy," Cat said. "No offense, of course, Luna, he is bloody brilliant."

"All the best people are at least a little bit barmy," replied Luna with a smile.

"How did you get placed into Ravenclaw?" Lucinda asked. "You weren't Sorted in the ceremony tonight."

"I, ah, had my own Sorting. Headmaster Dippet and Professor Dumbledore were there."

Cat shrugged. "Wish my Sorting had been in private," she said. "I was so nervous walking up to the Hat my first year, I tripped and hit my face on the edge of the stool. Gave myself a bloody nose in front of the entire school."

The girls laughed. "I remember that," Lucinda said playfully. "Couldn't believe it when the Hat put you in Ravenclaw anyway after that. The House of intelligence, honestly…."

This earned a half-hearted shove from Cat. "Remember how scared you were? And you were coming from a Wizarding family, so you knew what to expect! Imagine being Muggle-born; I had no idea what was going on."

"We should get to bed," Lorraine said, standing up and returning to the bed next to Luna's, laying her huge book on the bedside table. "We have to get up early for our first day of classes."

"You're right, I'm feeling quite tired," said Luna, letting out a yawn.

Cat and Lucinda also stood up from Luna's bed and moved towards their own. "We'll get our class schedules in the morning, Luna," Cat said. "We'll have loads of classes together, I'm sure." She dug into her trunk, then threw some pajamas across the dormitory at Luna. Luna caught them, then stared down at them as though unsure what to do with them. When she looked back up at Cat, Cat shrugged. "I noticed your things haven't arrived yet."

They all climbed into their beds and one by one extinguished their lamps. Luna lay on her back, playing the day's events over in her mind. She supposed that if she had to be thrown back several decades in time, this seemed to be a pleasant enough time to be tossed into. The girls sharing her dormitory were already proving themselves to be more friendly to her than those in her own time, who had been known to hide her shoes from her. And what a pleasant, if bittersweet, experience to spend more time with Dumbledore, and to get to see what he was like as a teacher. Surely her father would publish a piece about her adventures in The Quibbler….

Eyelids heavy, her breath slowed and became more regular as she began to doze off. Faces and names swirled in her sleepy mind, like water circling a drain. Albus Dumbledore...Catalina Litner...Lucinda McTavish...Lorraine Viridian...Tom Riddle….

Her legs twitched with a hypnic jerk and she had the sensation of falling. Luna gasped and sat upright in bed, eyes wide in the dark. She heard Lorraine mumble half-asleep from the bed next to her, 'You alright, Luna?" but she didn't respond. Heart pounding in her ears, she had at last remembered where she had heard the name Tom Riddle before: from Harry, when he spoke about Lord Voldemort.


	4. Unlucky

We said our goodbyes before we said hello.  
In a small place, you changed me.  
In a crowded place, you isolated me.  
Just tell me the truth; it'll hurt less, I guess.  
Tell Me the Truth - Lapsley

***

Luna woke the following morning after a night of fitful sleep feeling groggy. Her dreams had been uncharacteristically unpleasant, full of long fingers and long corridors, and also a panic, a smothering fear that she was trapped somewhere she didn't belong and couldn't move. She stretched in her bed, reluctant to leave the warmth and safety of her blankets.

"Oi! Luna! Get up! We're going to miss breakfast!" A well-tossed pillow flew through Luna's bed curtains, landing on Luna's abdomen. Sitting upright, Luna pulled the curtains open to reveal Cat, already in her school robes, hopping on one foot as she hurried to pull a sock on. The other girls had already left the dormitory.

Getting up, Luna spotted a trunk which had appeared at the foot of her bed. Opening it, she found not only a set of new black school robes and Ravenclaw uniforms, but also a rainbow assortment of sweaters and stockings that were not at all far off those she had left behind in 1997. Pleased and feeling a rush of affection for Albus Dumbledore, she dressed with speed, only getting distracted for a few moments by a pair of socks in her trunk which shouted the day of the week when one went to put them on. She picked her wand up from her bedside table, tucked it behind her left ear for safekeeping, then set off with Cat towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

The enchanted ceiling above them was a gloomy grey color, indicating that a storm front had moved in overnight. Luna and Cat walked by the Slytherin table to sit at the Ravenclaw table, and Luna did not turn her head to glance at the Slytherins as they passed.

Lucinda was seated further down the table, having an animated conversation with two admiring boys. Luna and Cat seated themselves next to Lorraine, and no sooner had they sat down than they were handed their class schedules by their Head of House. The three of them began inspecting and comparing their schedules.

"I've got Potions first thing this morning," Luna read aloud.

"Oh, that's bad luck," Cat groaned through a mouthful of toast. "I hate Potions, dropped it as soon as I could."

"Not to mention you got a 'Dreadful' on your O.W.L.," Lucinda interjected from behind Cat, having left the boys behind. "Lorraine and I will be in Potions with you, though, Luna."

Cat made a rude gesture at Lucinda, then returned to the schedules. "Yuck, Luna, why would you take Arithmancy? It's so tedious!"

"I think it's fascinating!" Luna objected.

"I love Arithmancy! We'll be in that together, too!" Lorraine said.

"And we'll all be in Charms together after lunch," Lucinda added, peering over Cat's shoulder at the schedules.

Luna glanced at her watch, then began shoveling food in her mouth. Her father always said it was bad luck to start an adventure on an empty stomach.

"Luna, no one's going to take your food away, you can slow down," Lucinda joked, earning a pointed look from Cat. "Just kidding, of course."

"Oh, I don't mind. Back home, I get made fun of all the time," Luna replied airily, making the other girls rather uncomfortable.

As she continued to eat her breakfast, Luna developed an acute sensation of being watched. Against her better judgement, she allowed herself to look up and scan the Slytherin table. There, halfway along the table, surrounded by other Slytherin boys his age, Tom Riddle was keeping an eye on her. Luna froze with her fork halfway to her mouth and watched as Tom held her gaze, then turned his eyes to one of the other boys to briefly respond to him. Then, with an air of nonchalance, he looked to her again out of the side of his eyes, the corners of his mouth languidly curling upward in a wry smile. She couldn't tell if he was smirking at his friends or at her. She was fairly certain it was at her.

"You alright there, Luna?" Cat asked, waving a hand in front of Luna's face.

Pulling her eyes away from Riddle, Luna said, "That boy, Tom Riddle...he's watching me."

To Luna's bewilderment, both Lucinda and Lorraine giggled after glancing over at the Slytherin table. Even Cat seemed a fair bit pinker in the cheeks.

"He's so good-looking," Lorraine said, blushing and shooting another glance towards Tom.

Cat, who seemed to have regained her composure, cleared her throat and said, "Yes, too bad he's a rotten Slytherin. Always running around with his little gang everywhere, playing teacher's pet. Wouldn't trust him so far as I could throw him, no matter how pretty he is." Seeing that the look on Luna's face had not changed, she added, "Seriously, are you okay?"

Luna was not sure how she could explain herself, and certainly not without breaking some of the most serious laws regarding time-travel. How was she to explain that they should not find the future Dark Lord devilishly handsome? How was she to do anything at all? She had stayed up most of the night trying to sort out what she was supposed to do in the situation in which she had found herself, and she was no closer than when she had started. Doing what felt right had never seemed so complicated before; indeed, none of her options seemed to feel anything resembling 'right'.

She took a deep breath, attempting to quell the nausea and nerves that churned in her stomach. "I - I'm not used to having boys watch me, I guess." Noting that she had lied more in the past day than she had in the previous several years combined did not improve the deep, unsettled feeling in her insides.

The other girls shrugged off her behavior, Lucinda shaking her head and muttering, "If I caught Tom Riddle staring at me, I sure wouldn't get upset about it."

Lorraine stood up from the table. "We're going to be late, and you know how Slughorn plays favorites - if we're late, it will stick to us the rest of the year." She hurried out of the Great Hall with Luna and Lucinda in tow.

They rushed down the stairs to the dungeons, skidding to a halt outside the Potions classroom with only a few moments to spare. Lorraine pulled the door to the classroom open, and the girls began filing inside.

Professor Slughorn was already there, standing up at the front of the classroom in emerald green robes and an affable grin. "Ah, yes, right on time! Welcome, welcome!"

They found seats together at a table, passing the small group of students already assembled. No sooner had Luna sat down and pulled her Potions book out of her bag, than the door to the classroom opened again, and in strode Tom Riddle with a casual arrogance.

***

Tom sat himself down at the table in front, where Abraxas Malfoy and Clarence Nott had been saving him a seat. He had spotted the new girl, Luna Lovegood, sitting at one of the tables further back. His back to her, he frowned, remembering the way the Ravenclaw girls had turned to look at him at breakfast then giggled. He was sure they thought he'd been staring at the new girl because he thought she was good-looking. In reality, he had been trying to assess how much of a threat she might be.

Having long ago developed the habit of seeing every interaction in terms of opposing forces had enabled him to always be a step ahead of everyone he met. Luna Lovegood could be no exception to this, though he had left their meeting feeling restless and agitated. To his immense displeasure, he had had several dreams the night before into which this flighty, strange witch was incorporated. In one of them, Tom had been a snake to which the girl offered food, much like she had offered bread to the mouse. Instead of taking the food she offered him, he had slowly coiled himself around her pale throat - until her skin had begun to burn his own, and he had released her, falling down, searing with pain.

He had never experienced precognition, but he was well-attuned to his own gut-feelings about things. And his gut was not letting him stop thinking about Luna Lovegood.

It didn't help that when they had made eye contact at breakfast, there was an unmistakable mingling of recognition and repulsion in her face, as though she knew him very well and was not fond of him whatsoever. But that was impossible. He shook his head, pulling out his Potions book, thinking with irritation that perhaps Luna's nuttiness was catching and that he would be best served by steering clear.

A clap from Professor Slughorn brought Tom's attention back to the classroom. "Now then!" Slughorn said. "Let's get started, shall we? I believe we have a new student with us this year, a Miss...Lovegood!" he said, glancing at a slip of parchment in his hand. He gestured towards Luna. "That must be you!" The whole class turned to look at her.

The girl was gazing at Slughorn with her eyes out of focus and only responded when the brunette Ravenclaw next to her prodded her in the ribs. "Oh, yes, hello," she said dazedly, as though coming out of a trance.

"Ah, yes! Hello there!" Slughorn cried. "I trust you will all make our new student feel most welcome!" The quiet sniggering from some of the students did not seem to phase Slughorn nor Luna, whose eyes immediately slid out of focus again. Slughorn continued, "Today, we will begin work on brewing Veritaserum, a very powerful potion which compels the drinker to tell the truth. Tasteless and colorless, it can be difficult to detect. Now, this is a very complex potion which I usually undertake with my seventh years. However, I have been so pleased with this class that I've decided to teach it early. We're going to pair up now, and you will remain with your partner throughout the brewing of the Veritaserum, which will take a complete moon-cycle."

***

There was a sudden rush for everyone to pair up with someone with whom they wanted to work. Before Luna, Lorraine, and Lucinda could begin sorting out which of them would pair up, Professor Slughorn bustled over to their table. "Miss Lovegood, I am quite sure you are a competent potion-maker; however, given that you are a new student, I'm sure you have plenty on your mind this first month. As such, I would like to pair you with my most advanced student to ease your workload on this delicate and complicated potion."

"That's very kind of you, sir," Luna said, picking up her textbook and bag as Lorraine and Lucinda paired up.

"This way, this way," Slughorn said in a jovial voice through a smile, moving away and beckoning her to follow. "Mr. Nott, please find another partner. I'd like Tom to work with Miss Lovegood here."

Nott looked Luna up and down, scowling at her when Slughorn turned away from him, but paired off with another Slytherin boy without argument.

"Miss Lovegood, this is Tom Riddle. Best in my classes, even better than my seventh years!" said Slughorn.

Luna felt as though her feet were glued to the floor, refusing to carry her any closer towards Tom Riddle. Her nose was beginning to wrinkle in a giveaway of her discontent. "Sir, I'm sure Tom would rather work with his friend."

"Nonsense! Tom will be happy to help you, won't you Tom?"

"Of course, sir," said Tom with a nod, sycophantic and smooth.

"Wonderful!" cried Slughorn before sweeping away towards his desk.

The moment Slughorn's back was turned, the look of earnest fell from Tom's face. "Isn't that wonderful."

Luna narrowed her eyes at the way his practiced tone of voice could so finely walk a line between politeness and condescension. She steeled herself and sat down next to him. She did not deign to respond to his comment, and instead opened her textbook and began to prepare ingredients. As she was chopping her Wartizome roots with a bit more violence than necessary, she considered the fact that she was seated next to a young Lord Voldemort brewing a truth serum. If someone were to use it on her, they would get quite the earful. Never, from hunting for Snorkacks in Sweden to fighting Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries, had she ever found herself in quite such a unbelievable situation.

***

"What's gotten into you? Why are you ruining our Wartizome roots?" Tom asked, eyes on her hands, line of irritation returning between his brows. "The last thing I need is for my grades to flag because of an inept Potions partner."

She did not alter the way in which she was going about chopping the roots. "That's the last thing you need," she scoffed. Her comment appeared to make perfect sense to her, though it was a mystery to Tom, and she did not expound upon it further. She finished the roots and set her knife aside. "I'll get the Jobberknoll feathers from the cupboard." Then she left the table, drifting away without looking at him. When she returned, she continued about her work without further acknowledgement of his presence beside her.

"You know," he said, "you were much more pleasant last night. Today you seemed downright disgusted at the idea of working together." He was curious, probing at her defenses, testing her.

Luna paused halfway through plucking the barbs from the rachis of a Jobberknoll feather. She turned her lamp-like eyes on him. "You're quite obvious, you know."

"I beg your pardon?"

"What you're doing. I'm sure it works most of the time or you wouldn't persist in doing it, but I know what you're up to, and it won't work on me. I'm not going to play any games with you, and I'm not going to let you figure me out." She said all of this is such a serene, matter-of-fact voice that Tom would have wondered if she might be joking were it not for her lack of any hint of a smile.

Masking the rage that flared inside of him, Tom changed tack and gave her a winning grin. "If I've offended you, that was not my intent."

"You haven't," she said. She returned to plucking the feather.

They passed the rest of the period in silence, and by the time Tom was packing his bag up, he was seething. He stalked out of the Potions classroom with Malfoy and Nott by his side, a storm brewing on his face, lost in thought.

"Riddle? Are you listening?"

Tom shifted his gaze to Abraxas Malfoy, who had been telling him a story. His voice sardonic, low, and dangerous, Tom said, "No, I'm not, Malfoy. As if I haven't anything better to do than listen to you blabber on like an enormous prat."

Something that looked like anger flashed behind Malfoy's eye, but it was stifled as soon as it appeared. He had learned, over the years, that an argument with Tom Riddle was in general quite unwise.


	5. Advice

I asked God who I'm supposed to be.  
The stars smiled down on me,  
God answered in silent reverie,  
I said a prayer and fell asleep.  
Dream - Priscilla Ahn

***

Luna's mood did not improve for the rest of the day, though her face largely remained as placid as ever. Even forcing herself to think of a happy thought in order to conjure up a perfect hare-shaped Patronus in Charms did not lift her spirits, despite the fact that her corporeal Patronus caused her Charms professor to squeal with delight.

Her new friends were stunned and impressed as well, as they were struggling to produce anything at all as they shouted "Expecto Patronum" repeatedly. Luna did not mention that she had been practicing her Patronus for a couple of years, thanks to Harry and the D.A.

Later, at dinner, Lucinda attempted to interrogate her about working with Tom Riddle in Potions. "What did he say?" she asked, leaning eagerly across the table. "What did you talk about? What did he smell like?"

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Cat interjected, slamming her fork down on the table. "Some of us are trying to eat!"

"Don't pretend you don't want to know," sniffed Lucinda, tossing her magnificent head.

Luna, for her part, appeared to be utterly fixated on attempting to build a pyramid out of her string beans and did not respond.

The girls returned to Ravenclaw Tower, and Luna settled herself into a plush armchair by the fireplace. She started working on her Charms homework, legs curled up underneath her so that only her pink toes were peeking out from under her. She worked studiously for several minutes until she glanced up to see Cat gesticulating silently to Lucinda and Lorraine. Cat froze mid-gesture when she noticed Luna's gaze, then tried to pass it off for fixing her hair.

"Yes?" asked Luna.

Cat coughed, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, honestly." Lucinda rolled her eyes, hands on her hips. "Luna, we were just wondering if you're alright. You haven't said two words all afternoon."

Luna blinked. "You're wondering if I'm alright?"

"Come off it, we like you now," Cat snapped.

Lorraine added, "Yeah, you're one of us now."

A smile bubbled up out from under Luna's sour mood, fizzing into her belly, overflowing, and spilling a warmth down to her toes. "I like that," she said.

"Well, go on then. What's the matter?" Lucinda said with melodramatic exasperation.

Temptation to tell them the truth filled her. To not be alone with her trouble, to find connection in complicated places. Instead, she sighed, reigning her heart in, still smiling. "I'll be fine. I promise," she added, catching their disbelieving glances exchanged between one another.

Settling back in to focus on her homework again, Luna nonetheless felt less alone, even if she did have to keep her secrets. Her mood was much improved as her quill scratched away on her parchment.

That night, back in her bed, shielded from the strange world by bed curtains and blankets, Luna snuggled into her pillow and slept soundly.

***

The weekend approached without serious incident, and though Tom was in Luna's N.E.W.T.-level Transfiguration class, he sat on the opposite side of the room from her, centered amidst an insulating layer of Slytherin lackeys, and he did not so much as glance in her direction for the duration of the class.

Dumbledore was exactly the sort of teacher she had thought he would be, releasing a flock of several Augureys from the tip of his wand with a flourish halfway through his lecture on Conjuration. Luna clapped with delight, then spent the rest of the period intermittently stroking one of the dark greenish birds that had settled itself on her desk.

At the end of the lesson, as Luna began gathering her things with the rest of the students, Dumbledore said, "Miss Lovegood, do you mind waiting a moment?" Luna waved Cat along, who was hovering next to her, and stayed seated, scratching under her Augurey friend's chin.

"How is everything going for you, Miss Lovegood?" Dumbledore asked, seating himself behind the desk at the front of the room after the last student had trickled out and the door shut behind them. With a wave of his hand, the window behind the desk flew open and most of the Augureys flapped outside, only the one on Luna's desk remaining behind.

"Oh, quite well. I'm starting to really enjoy myself here." The Augurey affectionately nibbled one of Luna's fingers.

"Most excellent. And I hope the wardrobe I conjured up for you was satisfactory?" he asked, eyes twinkling.

Luna nodded with a benign smile. "Yes, it's almost as though I picked them out myself, sir. Thank you."

"I am very pleased to hear you are doing well. I note that Miss Litner, Miss Viridian, and Miss McTavish have welcomed you into Ravenclaw with open arms."

"They've been wonderful," said Luna. "I'm really quite fond of them." She held her arm out for the Augurey to step on, which it did promptly, gripping her slender forearm lightly in its talons. Luna stood from the desk, the bird swaying gently on her arm.

"And Professor Slughorn tells me that he's paired you with one of Hogwarts' most talented students for Potions, Mister Riddle."

Luna licked her lips, avoiding Dumbledore's eyes as she walked the bird to the open window. "Yes, sir," she answered, "Professor Slughorn was kindly trying to ease my workload my first few weeks."

There was a momentary silence during which Luna sensed Dumbledore assessing her response. She ran a single finger between the Augurey's eyes, and the bird closed its eyes in unmistakeable enjoyment.

"I must regret to inform you that at this time, I have not made any progress on the puzzling problem of how to return you to your own time," said Dumbledore.

"That's understandable," Luna said, "you've only had a couple of days." She stuck her arm with the Augurey on it out the open window, but the bird did not fly away. "Go on then," she said to the bird. "You go and fly." The bird squeezed her arm with its talons gently. "It's alright, you can come visit me whenever you want." At that, the bird finally spread its large wings, leaping into the air and soaring away. When Luna turned back around, it was to see Dumbledore watching her thoughtfully.

"Very wise witches and wizards have studied the phenomena of Time for many years and have been unable to do that which I am attempting to do. I need to be as honest as possible with you about the task ahead of us, Miss Lovegood," he said.

Luna was unruffled. "I know, sir. I appreciate you trying very much."

This elicited a chuckle from Dumbledore, the kind of chuckle usually reserved for grandchildren from their affectionate grandparents. "If I may say so with having known you only a very short time, you are quite a remarkable witch. You have already demonstrated a generous spirit, courage, and steadfast faith. These are valuable gifts among Wizarding-kind and Muggles alike, especially in these dark days of Grindelwald and World Wars. I am most charmed to have you here with us so unexpectedly." He paused, then continued, "And perhaps your gifts might similarly charm someone who may need them above all."

Luna felt she might float right off the ground from such a lovely compliment, but she furrowed her brow slightly at his last statement. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I'm just a codgery old fool," Dumbledore said, waving a hand, the window shutting with a bang. He stood up from his desk, suddenly busy and bustling. "Don't mind me! Now, it's time for lunch!"

Luna pondered Dumbledore's words as she chewed her Shepherd's pie at lunch, then bid Cat, Lorraine, and Lucinda goodbye at the end of lunch as they headed to their classes. Luna had a free period after lunch, and intended to spend it in the library getting a start on her Arithmancy homework before the weekend. The Arithmancy professor had assigned an extremely complicated numerology chart with an accompanying essay to be due at the start of the following week, and Luna was sure it would take several hours to complete.

After running up to her dormitory to pick up her Arithmancy textbook and adding it to her bag, she made her way to the library. Upon entering, she twirled widdershins seven times, as her father had taught her to do in order to fend off Wrackspurts prior to any studying which would require great focus. Then she headed off to find a table.

***

Tom was holed up in the library, having eaten his lunch quickly before setting up to study through his free period that afternoon. There were a number of books spread out on the table in front of him, ranging in size from fitting in the palm of his hand to an enormous red leather-bound volume that consumed half the tabletop when open. A bottle of black ink was open, and a long piece of parchment was resting atop two large books, still shining with wet ink, as he continued to write in neat, thin handwriting on a second sheet. Professor Merrythought had only asked for the Defense Against the Dark Arts essay to be ten inches, and he had already written twice that.

He glanced up when he saw a flash of blonde out of the corner of his eye. It was that Lovegood girl. His left eyebrow raised as she began to twirl aimlessly for a minute before seeming to remember that she had come to the library for a reason and setting off for a table.

He pursed his lips. The last thing he needed was some insane girl who seemed to know him quite a fair bit better, after just a few minutes of conversation, than anyone else in the school - except for perhaps Dumbledore - having a significant presence in his life. He had too much to do, too much at stake, to make any missteps for the remainder of his schooling, especially with Dumbledore so intent on keeping an eye on him after the last school year. The girl fortunately did not appear to have seen him, so he lifted the enormous book off the table in front of him and propped it up in front of his face before continuing to work on his essay, the scratching of his quill the only appreciable sound he could hear.

His peace was interrupted by small hands grasping the large book from the other side, then hauling his shield away. Luna Lovegood snapped the book shut then held it against her chest, thin arms wrapped around it, the cover completely hiding her body from neck to nearly her knees. "Hello," she said.

Tom scowled at the disruption, venomous irritation pooling in his mind like blood, and he leaned forward across the table, opening his mouth to say something nasty.

"I'd like to be your friend," she cut him off before he could speak.

He stared, mouth hanging open.

"That's not a very good look for you, you know," she said helpfully as she laid the giant book down and sat in a chair across the table from him.

Snapping his mouth shut, he narrowed his eyes at her. "Who do you think you are, talking to me that way in Potions then waltzing in here and interrupting me like this? Can't you see I'm busy? What do you want?"

"I've already told you," she said, tilting her head to the side. "I'd like to be your friend." She repeated it in a slow, clear tone of voice with more enunciation, as though he simply hadn't heard her the first time.

He snorted, shook his head, his face a mask but his heart pounding. "I don't need your friendship."

"Well, nobody needs friendship, do they?"

"First intelligent thing you've said."

She continued, "It's only one of the things that makes life, you know, worth living."

Her over-large eyes didn't blink as they stared at him. He shifted half a centimeter in his seat and stared back at her, trying to get her to break his gaze, but she simply continued to look at him with an expressionless face. Finally, he broke eye contact under the pretense of glancing at his watch. "I haven't the time for this."

Luna started, as though she had forgotten they were having a conversation. His irritation ratcheted up another level at this, causing the fingers of his wand hand to twitch, longing.

"I just want to be your friend. I think you could use one. We could talk. We can just sit in the library together sometimes, if you like."

"I have friends -" he began.

"You haven't," she interrupted.

"- and I don't need you in the library distracting me," he continued, voice rising slightly over hers. "The library is the one place I go where I don't have to -". This time he cut himself off, clamping his mouth shut as he realized that he was beginning to volunteer personal information. His lips were a thin line, jaw set, brows low. A disconcerting feeling washed over him, mingled with fury with himself at letting the insufferable brat across the table to destabilize him enough that he was losing self-control. Even in the most minute of ways, even for a heartbeat.

He stood up from his seat, pulling his wand out of his robes pocket. A wave of his wand started his things about packing themselves into his bag, the ink bottle stoppering itself, the books closing. He walked around the table, placing his free hand on the surface and leaning into her. To his surprise and her credit, she didn't so much as flinch. His voice was quiet, composed, and deadly as he said, "Listen, Luna Lovegood, because I think you may be confused. I don't want to be your friend. I don't want to speak with you, nor sit in the library with you." He leaned a tiny bit closer, his breath causing the hairs just around her face to flutter. "In fact, the only thing I want from you at all is for you to never make the mistake of speaking to me again. And if you can't manage it on your own, I'm certain I can assist you."

There was a long pause during which Luna's chest rose and fell with her breath. Tom inhaled deeply to calm himself, as his heart was still thudding annoyingly in his ears despite his cool demeanor, and noted she smelled faintly of citrus. Her shampoo, perhaps. He watched her eyes as they searched his face then darted to his left hand on the table, where his ring glittered. Then she suddenly stood up, forcing him to take a step backward. "Fine." She twirled around, her hair very nearly whipping his face as she did so, snatched her book bag up off the floor, and left the library.

After watching her go with a violent satisfaction, Tom seized his own self-packed bag and stalked out of the library, heading in the direction of the Slytherin Dungeon with his hands in his pockets and a black look on his face.


	6. Thestrals

But you'll make dust from gold,  
and I'll know that your heart was once like mine.  
What the flaws unwind,  
and I'll throw my love to the ground,  
and I'll tear you out.  
From Gold - Novo Amor

And we lay, nocturnal,  
speculate how we feel.  
You said it was a flash of green,  
but you don't know.  
I Am Sold - James Blake

***

The rain which had started earlier in the week had cleared up, and as Luna returned to Ravenclaw Tower after leaving the library, the afternoon sun shone in through the windows. She chewed her lip thoughtfully as she moved through Hogwarts' familiar corridors.

She had considered every possibility a thousand and one times. The most drastic - killing Tom Riddle - was out of the question. She was not arrogant enough as to assume she knew what such an act performed in the past might do to the future, even though it seemed the simplest option, and she was too afraid to cause some negative consequence that she had not foreseen.

And besides that, she was fairly certain she couldn't muster up the hatred and Dark intent required to make the Killing Curse work properly. She was more likely to give him a stomach ache and get herself arrested several decades in the past for using an Unforgivable Curse...or even killed herself, if Riddle had time to retaliate.

Luna tossed her bag into an empty armchair in front of a sunny window in the nearly-empty common room, then sat in the chair next to it with a sigh. She twiddled one of her Dirigible plum earrings. Even knowing what she knew about the boy, knowing he would be the reason Harry and Neville didn't have parents someday, she did not feel hatred when she saw him sweeping around the castle in his school robes with his clear skin, sharp eyes, and even sharper tongue. Confusion, perhaps, at how such a bright and talented boy had become so twisted. But not hatred.

Dumbledore's words before lunch had spurred her to approach Tom in the library, and now she wasn't sure she had interpreted them correctly. Maybe Dumbledore knew that Tom was beyond help and he had meant something else entirely; maybe she was misunderstanding his words. Luna paused in playing with her earring. Was he beyond help?

What had Harry told them, when he had shared the news about the Horcruxes with them in whispers? That first time they discussed it, they had sat with their heads together, the six of them - Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna - pouring over each detail they knew, trying to piece it together. Luna recalled the nausea that had come over her that night, coming in waves as they talked.

And now...Tom was in his sixth year, nearly a man. He had opened the Chamber of Secrets in his fifth year, meaning the boy she was speaking to had already murdered Moaning Myrtle. She swallowed. He had also already murdered his father, not one month ago. Had he already made his first Horcrux? Had he already made more than one?

Dumbledore didn't know these things, otherwise he wouldn't have given her such advice, if she was indeed interpreting his cryptic words correctly.

Luna felt foolish. She had approached him without thinking it through, an impulse which had done nothing more than draw more attention to herself, attention of the future Lord Voldemort. How was she to help someone who didn't want her help, who was a dangerous Dark wizard and murderer already? What redemption was possible for a fractured soul?

***

The weekend came, sunny and crisp. Tom spent nearly his entire Saturday in the library. In between long periods of doing his homework, he slipped into the Restricted Section to study those Dark things in which he was most interested, spinning the ring on his finger with his thumb as he read.

That evening after dinner, he glanced around the Slytherin common room and felt smothered. Instead of settling down with his usual group, he took his cloak from his dormitory, pinned his Prefect badge to the front, and headed back out into the castle. He made his way down to the entrance hall, then pulled one of the great oak doors open to slip outside into the night.

He inhaled deeply as he crossed the moonlit grass, walking down to the nearest edge of the lake. It was chilly outside, but he always did his best thinking when alone at night. In fact, it had been one of the reasons, among others such as unfiltered access to the Restricted Section, that he had so wanted to be a Prefect: he had a reason to patrol the school alone for an hour or two each night.

The moon was growing, not yet half full. Tom glanced up at the moon and stars, casting light out of the blackness of space to shine down on him, his hands clasped behind his back. In general these days, he was no stargazer, though he could recall many nights spent hunched in a window at the orphanage, arms around his knees and unable to sleep, staring up at indifferent stars.

He found a familiar constellation in the sky above the lake, one he used to trace with a finger on the glass years ago. So much had changed.

As he turned back towards the castle, a yellow square of light cut through the blue light of the moon and stars as one of the front doors was opened again. Out slipped a small silhouette, clearly lit for a moment by the light escaping the door behind her. Luna shut the door behind her, then drifted her way directly across the sloping lawn towards the Forbidden Forest, unaware she had been seen.

Tom smiled. An opportunity to dock points and give detention at a minimum, and get her expelled at best, presenting itself during the first week of the term? He couldn't have asked for better luck. He surreptitiously caught up to her, hanging just far enough back as to avoid detection, and followed her into the trees of the Forest.

Among the trees, the pale light of the sky barely penetrated, and the darkness was oppressive. He had to keep an eye on both the girl and the ground to avoid tripping or stepping on something which would make her aware of his presence. Fortunately, her hair caught what little starlight cut through the trees, and she was fairly easy to follow. The forest floor, on the other hand, quickly became covered in a cool, creeping mist that moved around his feet and ankles, obscuring his view of where he might be stepping.

Moving further into the Forest, further than he had ever gone, he began to wonder where she was going when she came to a quiet, moonlight soaked clearing in the trees. Tom hung back, hiding behind a yew tree where he could watch what she did. Had she come here to perform some kind of magic?

But the girl went to the center of the clearing and sat down. She peered about her expectantly, as though waiting something. An owl hooted somewhere nearby.

Tom was about to go into the clearing and tell her she'd earned detention when there was a rustling across the clearing, the branches of a bush shaking. He reached into his pocket and slipped his wand out, raising it. Luna turned to face the movement, but did not pull a wand of her own. A moment later, a thestral foal stumbled out of the brush and into the clearing.

The foal tottered on spindly legs towards Luna, who held her hand to it. After the little thestral had sniffed her hand, she patted its head. Suddenly, more rustling broke out around the clearing, and several full grown thestrals appeared, making their way to the center.

Slowly lowering his wand, Tom watched as the thestrals surrounded Luna, nuzzling her, fighting for her attention, which she seemed all too happy to give. The foal was nipping at her cloak, which made her laugh, and she reached into her pocket and began pulling out several steaks that she must have nicked from dinner. She began giving each of the thestrals bits of meat, intermittently admonishing one that was being too greedy.

Tom's brows knitted themselves together as he watched. The skeletal winged horses had become visible to him just recently, having been present when his basilisk killed that Mudblood in the bathroom at the end of the prior school year. He did not particularly like them, as they had stomped their hooves at him and watched him with ghostly eyes when he had boarded the carriage, both at the end of the previous year and the beginning of this one. He wasn't sure if they'd always done it and he just hadn't seen.

And yet, here was this girl, who was nothing, a waif, a child...and she was not deterred by them at all. She seemed downright fond of the beasts, and they of her.

"Oh, Tom, I know you're there."

He jumped as her voice floated across the clearing to him. Cursing himself for allowing her to catch him off guard, he set his jaw and strode out from behind the tree. "What do you think you're doing?" he said sternly. "I could give you detention for the rest of the term."

Luna looked up at him, her pale skin iridescent in the moonlight.

A wild thought hurtled across his brain that she appeared borderline ethereal. The thought was immediately silenced. "I ought to, in fact." He crossed his left arm across his chest, using it as a platform for his right elbow, and began twirling his wand between the long white fingers of his right hand.

"You didn't have to go sneaking in the dark if you wanted to come with me. If you'd just told me so, I would've brought you along."

"I didn't want to come. I wanted to catch you at what you were up to, which, it turns out, is breaking several school rules."

She shook her head, and the thestrals, who had been eyeing him warily, seemed to sense his tone. They began moving themselves, placing their skeletal bodies between the two humans. Luna stood up, onto her tiptoes, so that she could speak to him over the thestrals' wings. "Well, I suppose being a Prefect is a heavy duty to bear. If you feel that's what you must do to be honorable, then I won't argue with you," she said, gazing at him unblinkingly.

"What the devil is that supposed to mean?" he said, ceasing twirling his wand.

"I wouldn't want to interfere with your sense of what is right," she replied, still without blinking. A smile seemed to be tugging at the corners of her mouth, but it was so faint he couldn't be sure.

"Are you mocking me?" he said coldly, taking a step towards her.

One of the thestrals snorted at his advancement, stamping its hooves, its pale eyes never leaving his face. Indeed, Luna's eyes had also never left his face, and she still hadn't blinked.

"Oh, curses, would you blink already?" he spat as the thestrals grew more agitated. This entire encounter was not going the way he had intended.

"Sorry?" said Luna.

Furious with himself for losing control of the situation yet again, he muttered, "You need to blink!"

"Oh. Okay." She blinked very pointedly for him.

***

Luna performed her blink for Tom, fighting a laugh. She patted the thestrals to calm them down, as she had seen Tom's eyes flicker between the creatures and her, though the look of maddening superiority never left his face.

"Would you like to pet one?" she asked, stroking the muzzle of a large male thestral who had been getting very upset.

"Why would I want to pet a vile thing like that?"

"They aren't vile at all, actually. They are intelligent, loyal, and quite gentle when they trust you."

Tom scrutinized the thestrals with disdain, expression carefully controlled, the moonlight casting his cheekbones into sharper relief.

Stepping out from behind the thestrals, Luna came closer to Tom. "Here," she said, and held out her hand to him.

Dark eyes settled on her hand, small and pale, as it hovered there in the dark waiting for him to take it. Tom smirked, then stepped forward, brushing past her hand.

"Come here," she said, leading him to the little foal. "The young ones are a bit more trusting."

Ignoring a disgruntled whinny from what was likely the foal's mother, Tom reached out a hand towards the young thestral. He hesitated a fraction of a second, then patted the foal's head. When he stopped, the foal immediately nudged his hand before he could pull away, clearly prompting him to continue, which he did.

"See?" she said. "It's not so bad." Luna took a step back and observed the scene she had created, and she couldn't help but smile.

Tom looked up at her, eyes flashing. "If you tell anyone about this -"

"I won't," she promised. "It'll be our little secret."


	7. Friendship

I'm just as fucked up as they say,  
I can't fake the daytime.  
Found an entrance to escape into the dark.  
Got false lights for the sun,  
it's an artificial nocturne,  
it's an outsider's escape for a broken heart.  
Artificial Nocturne - Metric

***

Luna and Tom left the thestrals behind, making their way through the Forbidden Forest back towards the castle. Tom was doing his best to not make it obvious that he had lost his sense of direction amongst the trees. She didn't need to know he was following her way out.

They walked in silence, the night noises of the forest around them. The night had become unusually cold for September, so cold that their breath began to mist in front of their mouths, mirroring the swirling fog at their feet.

When they broke out of the Forest, the girl suddenly stopped walking and stared up at the night sky.

"What are you doing?" he asked, turning around.

"Lovely, isn't it?" she said, neck craned backwards, exposing her vulnerable throat.

"What is?" he asked. His eyes lingered on the line of her jaw, then her collarbone.

A small smile appeared on her face. "Everything." She pointed at the stars. "That light travels millions of years just to meet us here, tonight. It's a bit of the past just reaching us now." Lowering her gaze to him, she said, "It's magical."

Tom glanced briefly up at the constellation at which he had been gazing earlier, the one he used to find as a child, then back to her. "Are you always so easily amused?" he said dispassionately.

She looked up and to the right, as though considering her response for a moment. Then she nodded. "Yes."

Gracing her with small shake of his head and the laziest eye roll, Tom said, "Let's go. I can't be out here all night."

At the foot of the spiral staircase to Ravenclaw Tower, Luna turned to him. "I quite enjoyed our adventure tonight, Tom."

"It wasn't an 'adventure.'"

"I felt quite adventurous, didn't you?"

"Not at all.

"Of course, not nearly so adventurous as when my father and I were in Sweden searching for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

"I - what?"

"Sweden," she replied. "It's a country in Scandinavia, northeast of here. They speak Swedish."

"I know what Sweden is," he said, nostrils flaring.

"Apologies."

Tom brought his left hand to his right to twirl his ring. He saw Luna's eyes drift down to his hands then back to his face. Not for the first time, his hackles were raised. "Luna," he asked suddenly, testing out the way her name felt in his mouth, "why did you want to be my friend?" His face was deliberately passive, his voice now humming an overture of amicability. To his surprise, Luna took a half step back when she heard it.

Her nose crinkled ever-so-slightly. "I just thought...we might make a good pair."

Displeasure at both his inability to manipulate her as easily as he was accustomed to, as well as her obvious mistruth bubbled in his gut. "I don't mean to engage you when you're clearly lying, but what on earth would have given you that idea?"

She opened her mouth to say something, obviously thought better of it, then shut it again, instead offering a shrug and a blank look in response.

"Well, make no mistake," he said coolly, injecting as much ice and disdain into his voice as possible, "you are no friend of mine."

It was not until he had already made it halfway to the Slytherin common room that he realized he hadn't even given her detention.

***

The following night at dinner, Cat snapped her fingers just in front of Luna's face, where she sat staring at the beef wellington, chewing her lip. "Lovegood!"

"I was just wondering," Luna said, releasing her lower lip from her teeth, "what a soul might be made out of? Do you suppose it's fragile? Is it brittle like spun sugar? Or is it sturdy like oak?" She knocked her fist against the wood of the Ravenclaw table. "Or perhaps it might be rather bendy, like a bit of bamboo." She propped her chin on a hand and continued to look thoughtful.

"Erm, a soul?" Lorraine repeated.

"What are you on about now, Luna?" said Cat. She tapped Luna's head with her finger. "What goes on in there?"

"Haven't the foggiest," Luna replied, making Lorraine and Cat snort with laughter. Finally coming back to the table, Luna looked around. "Where's Lucinda?"

Lorraine was lost into another bout of giggles at this, so Cat answered, "Oh, she's off with some boy. Gryffindor. Probably snogging. Ran off with him this afternoon."

"Oh, that's nice," said Luna.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Cat said, fighting a smile.

"Fancy a game of Gobstones? I've finished my homework for tomorrow," said Lorraine as they finished eating.

"Sure, let's head up to the common room," said Cat.

The three girls stood up to leave the Great Hall. As they passed the Slytherin table, Luna gave a cheery wave and a grin at Tom, who had been side-eying her from amidst his usual group of lackeys. At her wave, he turned his head away.

"You, uh...friends with Tom Riddle now?" Lorraine asked in an attempt at nonchalance.

"No, not at all," Luna said, continuing to grin. "He's made that thoroughly apparent."

Once they were settled down at a table in the Ravenclaw common room with Lorraine's set of Gobstones, Luna deferred playing to the other two girls. "I would like to practice my commentating skills, to be honest. I have commentated Quidditch and quite enjoyed it."

Lorraine and Cat acquiesced to having their game commentated, but quickly began to regret this as other Ravenclaws turned to see what was happening with bemused expressions. "I suspect Cat will perform the Wronski feint here soon, she is quite clever after all…," Luna said in a dreamy voice that carried around the common room.

"Luna, that's a Quidditch maneuver, this is Gobstones," Cat muttered.

They were just about to ask her to stop when Lucinda finally reappeared, bursting into the common room looking perky and pleased with herself.

"How is everyone?" she asked, beaming. "Good? Great! I'm quite hungry, shame I missed dinner."

"Someone's in a good mood," observed Lorraine.

"Are you happy because of the boy? From earlier?" asked Luna.

Lucinda, who had picked up one of the Gobstones to inspect it, dropped the stone suddenly, causing it to squirt foul-smelling liquid just to the left of Cat's face. "I suppose so," Lucinda replied.

"Well done, then," Luna said, patting Lucinda on the shoulder.

Once more, Lorraine and Cat collapsed into laughter, and Lucinda turned bright pink.

***

Monday morning arrived, and Luna awoke quite early, feeling refreshed and cheerful after a lively evening of Gobstones with her friends. She pulled her hair into a single long braid, put on mismatched socks, then headed down for a bite of breakfast before the other girls were roused.

Upon entering the Great Hall, she noted that the ceiling was the pale yellow of early morning sun. There was only a handful of students arrived in the Hall for breakfast: two Ravenclaws, a Hufflepuff, and Tom Riddle, seated alone at the Slytherin table.

Luna weighed her options for a moment. Tom hadn't seen her yet; he was bent over a book and taking occasional bites of his toast. As she watched, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand, the black and gold ring there glittering as the light of the dawn ceiling reflected off it.

Mind made up, Luna walked over and slid herself into the seat across from him.

He looked up, and for a moment fatigue was visible on his face. This was quickly replaced with irritation. "Oh, for - what do you want this early in the morning?"

"Good morning," she said brightly. "How did you sleep?"

"I didn't," he clipped, then returned to his book, placing his forehead in the palm of his left hand, creating a screen between Luna and his face. Clearly, he intended the conversation to be over.

"Why didn't you sleep? Did you have nightmares? You know, if you place three drops of aquavirius maggot pus on each eyelid before bed, you can fend off the nightmares."

Now dragging his left hand down his face in exasperation, Tom sighed. He briefly glowered at her between his long fingers, then put his hand down on the table. "I'm not going to ask what an aquavirius maggot is, nor am I interested in the purported magical purposes of their pus," he said loftily. "I didn't have nightmares. I didn't sleep."

"You do look rather tired and peaked," said Luna clinically, leaning slightly forward to inspect him more closely. In doing so, she also caught glance at the pages of his book. Of course. How many times could one book use the work "Dark"?

Tom scowled. "Do you have any sense?" His polished, disquieting demeanor was slipping, and he began to tap his ring against the table in annoyance.

"Why didn't you sleep?" asked Luna, barreling forward.

"I don't sleep well. I never have. I frequently skip a night." He leveled a glare at her and pressed his lips tightly together.

"Do you just lay there and lay there and can't sleep?"

"Yes," he said, his lips barely opening to let the word escape.

"How dreadful. Although I suppose you might get a lot done while everyone else is asleep." Luna looked down at the ring on his hand, which he was still tapping against the wood. "That's a lovely ring. Is it a family heirloom?"

For a moment, she thought perhaps she had gone too far. Tom's entire body stiffened. The ring stopped tapping, and she was fairly sure he stopped breathing for a moment. Meanwhile, his eyes were penetrating hers with an intensity that gave her the feeling he could see the bones and beating heart inside her. Then, almost imperceptibly, he began to breathe again. And so, Luna realized, did she.

"I haven't got any family."

Luna made a habit of abandoning expectations, but she was still taken aback at this response, this volunteering of information. She searched for evidence of manipulation, but instead found little flaws in his usually flawless facade: his black hair stuck up a bit on the left where he had run his fingers through it, there were blueish shadows under his blue eyes on his pale skin, and there was an infinitesimal decline in the haughtiness of his mouth.

"I'm sorry. Did your parents die?" she asked, although she knew the answer. When he didn't respond, she said, "My mum died when I was younger. That's why I can see the thestrals."

He looked thoughtful, considering her words. "I grew up in an orphanage," he finally said, slowly, answering her question without directly responding to it, and his eyes had a faraway look for the briefest of moments.

Without thinking, Luna reached across the table and laid her hand on top of his. Her hand was small compared to his. His fingers were quite cold against the warmth of her palm. The pads of her second and third fingers briefly touched the black stone of his ring.

As though burned, Tom jerked his hand out from under hers, immediately all sharp edges again. "Didn't we discuss this already?" he said coldly.

"Right, right," said Luna, standing up. "Not friends. Zero friendship. Of course, Tom." And she drifted away, headed to Ravenclaw table feeling terrified, but also a bit triumphant.

She sat with her back to the Slytherin table, and began to spread marmalade on a piece of toast. As she chewed her toast thoughtfully, the ceiling above became brighter and brighter. Lorraine, Lucinda, and Cat arrived to breakfast together, seating themselves next to Luna.

"Good morning," said Luna.

"Ha, ha, very funny, Luna," said Cat, looking very groggy.

"Here," Lucinda said, handing a platter of hard-boiled eggs to Cat. "Eat something."

Cat accepted the platter of eggs gratefully. After taking a couple and passing the platter along, she rubbed her eyes and muttered, "It should be illegal to hold school on Monday mornings."

"Well, then Tuesday morning would simply feel like Monday morning," Lorraine said sensibly, helping herself to a sausage.

"Perhaps Cat has invented an Anti-Mondays Charm," Luna supplied helpfully.

"As usual, I'm not sure what that is you're talking about, Luna," said Lorraine.

"I just hate Mo-o-ondays," Cat said while trying and failing to stifle a yawn.

Lucinda snorted. "You're just a little ray of sunshine this morning, aren't you?"

Sticking her tongue out, then sighing melodramatically, Cat said, "I have the worst friends ever."


	8. Blibbering Humdingers

Fighting with half a soul that's aching to be whole.  
If you could only see what I see.  
Recklessly running from the demons your heart hold,  
can hide behind the scars that they leave.  
Dreamer (Stripped Down) - Mokita feat. Kaptan

Love, love is a verb.  
Love is a doing word.  
Fearless on my breath.  
Teardrop - Massive Attack

***

"I have a question for you, Lovegood," said Tom. They were in Potions, standing on opposite sides of the table as they resumed work on their Veritaserum. He had regained his composure after the conversation at breakfast, though he was still annoyed at his own behavior. Luna Lovegood, for reasons he had yet to elucidate, puzzled him, made him feel raw and unprotected and decipherable. Once Luna looked up at him over their cauldron, he continued, "Something occurred to me after we spoke at breakfast."

"Yes, Tom?"

"You mentioned that your mother died in front of you when you were younger."

"Yes, Tom."

"But the night we met, you said your mother wanted you to come to Hogwarts for an exchange year rather than returning to Koldovstoretz."

Luna blinked but otherwise did not react. "Yes, Tom."

He leveled a triumphant look at her. "So is your mother a ghost, or do you admit you were lying to me?"

"Yes, Tom." She returned to prepping their potion ingredients.

He frowned. "What do you mean, 'Yes, Tom'? Yes, your mother is a ghost, or yes, you lied? And don't say 'yes, Tom!'"

Infuriatingly, the girl nodded and didn't look back at him. He slammed his palm down on the table in frustration with such force that Professor Slughorn looked over and called, "Ho, there, Tom! No destroying the furniture!"

"I apologize, Professor," said Tom, his voice immediately dripping with obsequiousness.

"And you say that _I'm_ a liar."

Tom jerked his head around in Luna's direction at the words, but she was gazing off into space and humming, as though she had said nothing at all.

***

September faded into October in concert with the leaves on the trees fading to new colors. In Potions each week, Tom scornfully ignored Luna Lovegood as she insisted on rambling about various subjects while they worked on their Veritaserum. One day it was gulping plimpies. The next it was a detailed list of conspiracy theories regarding the Ministry of Magic. Another day, she could not stop talking about her Mudblood friend Litner. Regardless, Tom made a point of looking as uninterested as humanly possible...though this did not, to his chagrin, seem to deter her much.

And though someone would have had to Crucio it out of him, he also found that in quiet moments, in the library or while pacing the halls of the castle at night, if he wasn't vigilant, his mind would occasionally wander towards thoughts of her, like a curious child towards something interesting he'd seen on the ground. Was she really related to Dumbledore? Where had she really come from? Why couldn't he intimidate her? Why couldn't he read her? What exactly did she know about him? What exactly did she see when she looked at him?

The final week of brewing their potion together, at the end of the period, Professor Slughorn came over and inspected their cauldron carefully. "Excellent! Top marks! I told you working with Tom here would be helpful your first month!" he cried, slapping Tom on the shoulder and offering Luna a wink.

The following weekend, in the second week of October, was the first Hogsmeade visit of the year. Tom was, for once, somewhat relieved to get out of the castle. He was on edge, feeling tired of wondering about the girl, and tired of being angry with himself for wondering about the girl.

And he had to admit, as he played with the ring on his finger in the Slytherin common room, that he was more tired in general these days. His hand balled into a fist. He had done all the research. He had scoured every book. There simply wasn't that much information, but none of the information he had found mentioned that fatigue was a side effect of making a Horcrux. If this was his own weakness, he would simply have to overcome it. He had too many plans, too ambitious of designs to be suppressed by his own body. Perhaps his inability to decode Luna was also related. It was possible that a newly split soul's physical body required some amount of time to adjust. He would surpass it. All the more reason to ascend out of his own mortality even further. Why waste time and energy feeling exhausted? Why waste time and energy feeling anything at all?

"You ready to go, Riddle?" came Abraxas Malfoy's voice.

Tom looked up, the sounds of the common room coming back into his sphere of immediate awareness as he wrenched himself from his own mind. Malfoy, Nott, Avery, and Lestrange were standing nearby in their cloaks, waiting for him. He nodded, stood up, and led the way out of the common room to go to Hogsmeade, the other boys always walking a half step behind him.

Once in the village, they made their way directly for the Three Broomsticks. The pub was already crowded, but Tom directed his friends to bully a group of third years from their table in the corner while he ordered a round of butterbeers. He managed to charm the barmaid into giving him the round on the house, then gathered the mugs and left her blushing furiously. Setting the butterbeers down on their newly acquired table, Tom smirked as his friends laughed admiringly about the fact he had obtained the drinks for free.

Tom had hardly settled in to enjoy the warmth of the pub when the bell over the door tinkled and in walked Luna Lovegood. She was not wearing her school robes, her cheeks flushed from the autumn wind, and as she unfastened her cloak, he rolled his eyes to see she was wearing the same purple stockings she had worn the first night she had waltzed unceremoniously into his life.

She glanced around the pub, her eyes landing on him for only a moment before moving on to keep searching, as she realized he wasn't what she was looking for. Spotting a group of Ravenclaw girls two tables over from Tom, Luna smiled and waved cheerily, heading over to sit down with the girls.

"What's this, Riddle?" Avery asked with a grin, following Tom's gaze to the table of girls. "Something caught your eye?"

Expression stoic and cold, Tom shifted his eyes to Avery with a blink.

The other boy's grin slipped, faltered. "Just wondering."

The other boys were now looking over at the Ravenclaw girls. "Can't say I blame you, Riddle," said Lestrange lasciviously, licking his lips, "that McTavish girl is quite a smashing little slag."

Tom glanced back over at the table of girls. He had hardly even registered the other girls at the table beyond their presence itself, so closely had he been watching Lovegood. The McTavish girl was indeed there, and so was the Viridian girl and the Mudblood Litner. They were all in his year, but he had hardly even taken the time to truly look at them, let alone speak to them.

"Ah, she likes them Gryffindors," said Nott.

"I'm sure I could convince her to enjoy a little bit of serpent," said Lestrange, turning to look at Nott with a wicked grin.

"We're already aware your 'serpent's' little, Lestrange, no need to bring it up constantly," Tom said derisively, causing Lestrange's face to turn dark and the other boys to howl in laughter.

"Hello, Tom. Having a good time?"

Tom fought the urge to sink low in his chair. He turned to see Luna Lovegood had approached their table while he was distracted with conversation, and she was now standing there with her hands clasped in front of her and a good-humored look on her face. As he looked at her, she rolled her weight up to the balls of her feet, then rocked backwards onto her heels, then back to standing flat-footed. It gave her the appearance of having ended up at their table quite by mistake.

"Sod off, Lovegood," said Nott before Tom could respond.

Luna shifted her moon eyes to look at Nott. Her nose began to crinkle slightly, as though she were inspecting something rather foul. "I beg your pardon?"

Watching with curiosity and a thread of amusement, Tom leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms to watch what she would do. He glanced over to the table of girls she had left and noted they were watching as well, faces betraying their anxiety and concern.

"He said, 'sod off'," Avery interjected. "Just because you were Tom's partner in Potions for a month doesn't mean you're entitled to waste our time."

"Honestly, you may be pureblood, but you're a blood traitor for hanging around that Mudblood Litner all the time. Not sure what we could except from a member of Dumbledore's family though, he's a filthy Muggle-lover himself," spat Malfoy.

A hush fell over the nearest tables as the students seated at them began to overhear the conversation and turn to watch.

"Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of our time," she said, her voice soft but sure, her words causing Tom to frown slightly. "And Cat is better than you'll ever be."

Malfoy leaned across the table towards her, eyes alight with malice. "She's a filthy Mudblood, and you're hardly any better. And your pathetic Dumbledore is nothing but a - "

Luna's hand made a satisfying smacking sound that cut through the pub as she reached up and slapped Malfoy across the face. Looking aghast, his mouth still open mid-sentence, Malfoy slipped out of his seat from the surprise and force, landing on the floor with a thump.

"Don't you ever speak that way about the people I love in front of me," said Luna. Her voice was plain, though she did appear to be mildly surprised at what she had done.

Tom's eyebrows were as high on his forehead as they could go, the right corner of his mouth twitched upward at being so thoroughly entertained.

Malfoy scrambled to his feet, pulling out his wand. "How dare you!" he hissed. "If I wanted to, I could kill you right here."

Eyes darting around, Tom realized the entire pub was now watching. The Mudblood in question had stood up from the Ravenclaw girls' table and was moving towards Luna, unmistakably reaching into her pocket for her own wand. Then his eyes landed on Luna, who stood with her jaw set, unflinching before Malfoy's wand. Tom felt his curiosity crest ever higher in spite of himself. Not even bothering to uncross his arms, he interrupted, tone as nonchalant as possible. "No, you won't, Malfoy."

In his rage, Malfoy rounded on Tom. "Who are you to say what I will or won't do, Riddle?" As soon as the words left his mouth, the other boys at the table froze.

Tom fixed the blonde boy with such a virulent glare that Malfoy took a startled step back.

"I mean…," stammered Malfoy, "I just meant - "

"Get out of my sight," Tom said, his voice alarmingly low and falsely calm. He glared around the table at the rest of the Slytherin boys. "All of you."

Without needing to be told twice, Malfoy, Nott, Avery, and Lestrange grabbed their cloaks and made their way through the stockstill gaping patrons of the pub and out onto the street with a jingle of the bell over the door.

"What are you all staring at?" Tom said to the onlookers casually. He uncrossed one of his arms to tap the Prefect badge pinned to his sweater vest. "It's been taken care of."

The pub patrons began to turn back to their own tables and gossip about what they had just witnessed, the bar quickly becoming noisy again.

Tom's attention was drawn by Litner tugging on Luna's elbow. "Come on," she was saying, "we should get out of here, Luna."

But Luna was staring at Tom, her face inscrutable, and refusing to budge. "You didn't have to do that," she said.

"Do what?" Tom asked, cocking his eyebrow at her. "Stop another student from hexing you right in front of my nose while a whole crowd watched?"

She tucked her hair behind her ear, inspecting him. Her friend Litner stood just behind her, looking at Tom with a mixture of fear and revulsion. Luna said, "Of course." Then she sat down at the table with him.

Litner groaned. "Oh, come on, Luna!" The two other girls had finally shaken off their shock and were now standing there as well.

"Yes, go on then," Tom said, waving a hand towards Luna's friends. "Can't I enjoy my Hogsmeade weekend in peace?"

"I'll catch up with you," Luna said, turning to her friends.

The black-haired Mudblood looked as though she wanted to argue, but instead shot another glare at Tom, then shook her head. "Fine, then."

"It's fine, Cat." The tall, pretty girl, Lucinda McTavish, now pulled gently on Litner's arm. "Tom kept Luna from getting hurt."

A smug smile curled its way onto his mouth. He shot a wink at Lucinda, tipping his head at her in thanks for her words of confidence, causing both her and the Viridian girl's cheeks to flush.

Litner huffed in irritation, spinning on her heel. The girls gathered their things and bustled out of the pub, shooting glances back over their shoulders at him as they went.

Once they were gone, Tom studied Luna from his reclined position, occasionally sipping his butterbeer. "What do you want now? To thank me for doing exactly what I ought to do as a Prefect?"

"No," Luna said. "I wanted to ask you if you've ever heard of a Blibbering Humdinger."

Tom froze with his mug halfway to his mouth and stared at her over the rim. "You have to be joking."

"I'm not," Luna said honestly.

"I keep you from getting cursed into next year, and all you want to talk about is more of your made-up nonsense?" He snorted and put his mug back down on the table.

Her nose was crinkling up again, the second time in the past several minutes alone. "Well, you've made it quite plain that you want me to believe you were merely performing the duty you felt you had to rather than truly assisting me, so in order to play along, I can't be too grateful. And the Blibbering Humdinger is most certainly not made-up nonsense."

"Want you to believe - I don't want you to believe anything, except for perhaps to not believe in crackpot ideas that you insist on discussing with me incessantly despite my utmost clarity in expressing my distaste for both your conversation and your company."

She huffed. "Fine." She stood up and began to put her cloak on.

Tom drained the rest of his butterbeer, then finally sat up in his chair, watching her. "Bloody hell, Lovegood, have I finally figured out how to get under your skin? Ignoring you, threatening you, or insulting you doesn't work, but call your friends Mudbloods and your stupid creatures made-up, and you nearly lose it."

Saying nothing, Luna headed towards the door of the pub.

Grabbing his own cloak, Tom followed her as though drawn by a magnet. "Lovegood," he repeated to her back as they emerged out onto the high street. "Lovegood!" She continued to ignore him, walking away towards the road back to the school. Irritation flaring, he grabbed her arm and pulled her around to look at him. "Don't ignore me."

There was a resoluteness in her face bordering on stubbornness. "Do you remember what I told you in Potions? I won't play games with you. I'm not one of your little followers, Tom Riddle. I've offered you my friendship, not my subjugation."

Startled, he released her arm. She immediately turned away and continued walking. After a moment, he hurried to catch up to her, doing so quickly on long legs. "What is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"You're quite intelligent; I'm certain it would be redundant for me to explain myself." She glanced at him sideways, the sourness quickly draining from her demeanor. She appeared unable to maintain it for very long.

Feeling confused and annoyed, distrustful and curious, disturbed and intrigued, Tom digested her words in silence for a moment. "You're very dramatic sometimes," he chided as they left Hogsmeade Village proper and started up the road between the village and the castle.

She glanced at him with raised eyebrows. "You're the most dramatic person I've ever met. Not to worry, it's charming at times, though I do wonder if you ever get tired."

"Tired of what?" he asked with a slight frown.

"Tired of all the acting," Luna said bluntly, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

His slight frown progressed to a scowl. "Very clever," he snarled, "pretending as though you know me, as though you see some side of me no one else sees." The worst part was that he was fairly sure she wasn't pretending at all, but his patience for the day had run out, and he barreled on. "I don't know why you're so insistent upon trying to insert yourself into my life, but you aren't fooling anyone with your innocent act. You've done nothing but lie to me from the moment you set foot in this school. You don't speak a word of Russian, your mum is alive one day and dead the next. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if you aren't related to Dumbledore at all. If you're going to lie to me, at least try harder next time."

To his displeasure, she took his words in stride - he had hoped to rile her up again, to relieve his own agitation through transferring it to her. Instead, she considered his words thoughtfully, chewing her lower lip as they walked. Then she nodded. "That's fair," she said. "I suppose you're right that I can't ask to be your friend if I've been dishonest with you."

He shook his head, but internally he felt a surge of triumph. "You admit it then?"

"I can't admit it." She was choosing her words carefully. "I can't tell you the truth, exactly. But how about a deal?"

"A deal? You're a nutter. What kind of deal would I make with you?"

"That you'll accept that I can't tell you every truth, but that I at least won't lie to you anymore."

He paused, eyeing her out of the corner of his eye, her hair whipping around her face in the wind. Whatever cursed thing it was about her that intrigued him won out over his instincts for the moment, though he made mental note of her words. If she couldn't tell him the truth, that meant it was all the more interesting, and likely more important for him to know. "Fine," he said coldly, rolling his eyes. "But this doesn't mean we're friends."


	9. Nargles

Who's seen Jezebel?  
She was born to be the woman we could blame.  
Make me a beast half as brave;  
I'd be the same.  
Jezebel - Iron & Wine

I got a bad heart, got a mean streak,  
a good way of leaving you weak.  
Got time to kill, but time don't equal love.  
It just reminds you of the water we can't get above.  
Sirens - Daniel Ahearn & The Jones

***

On Halloween, a Sunday, Tom entered the Great Hall for breakfast to find the by-now familiar decor of hundreds of carved pumpkins and a similar number of black bats flying around in clouds. Some of the students, taking advantage of the fact that the holiday was on a weekend, had playfully donned masks and were busy complimenting or trying to startle one another.

Tom had dressed as usual, without a mask, black hair smoothed carefully back, clothes impeccably wrinkle-free. He was surrounded by Malfoy, Lestrange, Nott, and Avery at the Slytherin table, listening with mild amusement as Lestrange whispered a story about how he had terrorized a Muggle-born first year the day before by conjuring hundreds of spiders to crawl all over him while in the bathroom. Lestrange himself had hid carefully out of sight in another stall while the boy had panicked in fear.

"Swear I thought he was going to piss himself," Lestrange whispered gleefully. "Lucky for him he was already in the loo."

Nott, Avery, and Malfoy howled with laughter, slapping the table and wiping tears from their eyes, while Tom smirked quietly.

A girl with dark hair wearing a sequined black mask sat down next to their group. "I see you're all having a good morning. But where's your Halloween spirit, boys?" she asked, lifting her mask up and revealing a pretty porcelain face with thin lips and arched brows.

"Walburga Black, you're too lovely to be wearing a mask over your face," Nott said smoothly, leaning towards the girl.

"Watch out, Nott, she's only for her cousins," Malfoy quipped.

"Ah, in the future maybe," Nott said. "But for now, I've got to try, haven't I? And I'm pure-blood, besides, darling." He grabbed one of Walburga's hands and planted a kiss on it.

Walburga tittered in a way that made bile rise in the back of Tom's throat. "Oh, don't be so naughty," she said. Her dark-lashed eyes shifted to Tom, who gazed back with an emotionless face. "I'm free as bird right now, anyway."

Suddenly, Tom's eyes were covered from behind by two small hands. Restraining himself from responding violently in the middle of the Great Hall to whoever had dared to sneak up and touch his face, he tensed.

"Boo!" said a dreamy voice behind him. "Guess who?"

The hands were removed, and Tom opened his eyes to see his fellow Slytherins snickering. He inhaled deeply and turned around. Luna Lovegood stood behind him, wearing an enormous hat shaped like a phoenix that had been enchanted to flap its wings and look around.

"Happy Halloween!" she said.

"You have to be kidding me," Malfoy said sullenly. His pride had clearly not yet recovered from the Hogsmeade incident.

Walburga looked Luna up and down with her lips pressed together in a sour expression. She had not missed the casual way the odd Ravenclaw girl had approached Tom.

"Oh, excellent charmwork, Miss Lovegood!" Professor Slughorn had appeared at his House's table and was admiring Luna's hat.

The group of Slytherins, including Tom, sat up a little bit straighter, their expressions losing their hostility in the presence of a teacher. "Good morning, Professor," said Tom.

"Good morning! And happy Halloween!" Slughorn said. He chuckled as Luna's phoenix hat extended its wings out, requiring him to duck to avoid being struck in the face. "You boys are all going to make it to my Slug Club party tonight, won't you?"

"Of course, sir," Tom said as Avery, Malfoy, Nott, and Lestrange nodded unctuously.

Slughorn clapped his hands. "Excellent! I shall see you all at seven o'clock sharp, then. And Miss Lovegood," he added, turning back to her, "if you keep up the excellent work in Potions, I might just have to invite you to the next Slug Club party! What with being Dumbledore's, er…."

"First cousin, twice removed," Luna supplied in an airy voice.

"Precisely! Well, I'd best be off. Have a happy Halloween, you all!" Slughorn bustled away.

The conversation amongst the others quickly returned to Nott flirting with Walburga, intermixed with talk of blood purity. Tom watched in silence as Luna's eyes glazed over. He shook his head slightly in vague disbelief as she began to slowly drift away from their table, clearly uninterested in the conversation.

That night, as he was the last one to leave the Slug Club party, Tom spun the ring on his finger as he paced through the corridors towards the common room.

Slughorn hadn't provided him the precise information for which he had been hoping. The foolish man knew hardly little more than Tom himself already knew about Horcruxes; less even, perhaps, since Tom had a piece of his soul already stored carefully in his old diary. Slughorn had, however, been of some use. His very resistance to the idea of multiple Horcruxes clearly indicated that he thought it was possible, and the fact that he had never heard of it having been done before was certainly no deterrent to Tom. If anything, it was fuel on the fire.

Tom chuckled softly to himself, and the sound mingled with his footsteps in the stone corridor. Not that it had mattered. Unless Slughorn had surprised him with a story of multiple Horcruxes having gone horribly wrong, Tom had already made his mind up. And Tom Riddle's mind made up was quite a difficult thing to change.

***

The next few weeks passed rather uneventfully for Luna. She was excelling in her classes. Cat had taken it upon herself to loudly talk about her perfected Bat Bogey Hex and glower menacingly at anyone who teased Luna ever since the Malfoy incident had occurred, leading to a rather peaceful existence in the castle.

As for Tom Riddle, he had become increasingly reclusive and moody as winter approached. He not only avoided Luna, but also seemed to be spending less time with his Slytherin gang than usual. He continued to turn in impeccable work in class, but otherwise was often nowhere to be found. This worried Luna a great deal. A young Lord Voldemort hiding himself up somewhere was probably not a good sign. She shuddered to think what he might be up to.

Fortunately, as Christmas approached, Luna found it more and more difficult to dwell on Tom too much. Decorations flew up around the castle the last week of term, and the suits of armor were enchanted to sing carols in rusty voices, though they often forgot most of the words. Fairy lights and Christmas trees were everywhere, and Peeves had taken it upon himself to zoom around with mistletoe and harass random students until they kissed or managed to get away.

The Heads of Houses went around to their students as usual and collected the names of those staying behind over the holiday break. Luna signed up immediately, as she had no place to go, though she was one of very few. Cat, Lucinda, and Lorraine - indeed, all the girls in her dormitory - were going to go home for the holidays.

"Now, Luna," Lucinda began just before the girls left, "try to stay out of trouble while we're gone, alright? I don't want to return to find out you've - turned the entire dormitory into a snow globe, or run off to search for Snuckle-Horned Cornsacks, or something."

"Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," Luna corrected with a light smile as Cat and Lorraine laughed. She hugged the three of them goodbye, and then off they went.

The first day of break she had to herself, Luna meandered down to the library. She had half a mind to try to find a clear reference to a Blibbering Humdinger, since Tom had so adamantly dismissed them back in Hogsmeade. She had found a reference written by Edric the Weird a couple of years ago, but something told her Tom was not likely to believe Edric the Weird anymore than he believed her.

Additionally, as the holidays inched closer, she began to more acutely miss Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny. More persistently than before were worries about seeing her father again. Had she already spent her last Christmas with him? The distraction of the library would be welcome.

Upon entering the library, Luna was pleasantly surprised to see Tom himself seated at a table, surrounded by books. Luna paused in the doorway to watch him for a moment, cherishing the opportunity to observe him when he didn't know he was being observed. She was convinced that there was some degree of uncertainty introduced into any of her observations she could make when he knew she was looking. He was the least reliable narrator.

As she watched, she once again caught flashes of the fatigue he had revealed at breakfast several weeks prior. Shadows under his eyes, shoulders rounded over his work. He was already lean and it looked like he may have lost a bit of weight, his high cheekbones even more pronounced than usual. Then he yawned, and it was such a vulnerable, human action - his eyes shutting, mouth covering his hand in habit, his chest rising - that Luna felt a strange surge of protectiveness for him.

Then he spotted her as he opened his eyes from the yawn, and immediately the moment was lost as he set his face. Brushing his hair out of his eyes with one hand, he used a single finger of the other hand to beckon her over to him.

"What are you doing here over break, Lovegood?" he asked.

"I didn't want to go home," she replied.

"Didn't we make a deal you wouldn't lie to me anymore?" he said icily.

"Alright, then. I didn't have anywhere to go."

Tom furrowed his brows at her, but didn't question her further.

"Why aren't you home for the holidays?" she asked after a beat.

His smug demeanor further hardened. "Hogwarts is my home."

"I suppose I wouldn't want to go back to an orphanage for Christmas either," she said.

He glared at her. "What would you know about it? I'm sure you always had perfect little holidays with your family."

Luna pulled out a chair at the table with him, then twirled a strand of her hair in thought. "My mum really did die, you know."

Tom's eyes lost some of their narrow glare. "She did?" he asked.

"Yes," Luna said with a faint nod. "She was brilliant, very interested in experimenting. I was in her laboratory with her when it happened. I was nine."

"Oh." Tom shifted in his chair, a nearly imperceptible tell of his discomfort.

"I know I'll see her again, though. Someday."

"How do you know that?" he suddenly demanded.

She searched his face. He met her eye contact full on, refusing to look away, causing both of them to take a half a second too long before inhaling again. "I've always known," she said. "Our loved ones are always there, just out of reach."

"I haven't got any loved ones," Tom said, then gritted his teeth as though he hadn't meant to say it.

"What about your mum?"

"I never knew her. She died just after childbirth. They told me the story at the orphanage, many times. Made sure I knew it by heart." He was breathing somewhat heavier than before and paused to take several deep breaths.

Luna didn't speak, face placid, eyes on his, wanting to allow him the space to continue if he chose to.

"She was a witch," he said. "A witch of noble blood, and she allowed herself to die just after having me. She could have saved herself, if she had...wanted to." His voice was like knives, the words sharp and short. "No, I don't love my mother, and not only because I did not know her."

"Why didn't she save herself?" Luna whispered.

"Heartbreak," he replied, spitting the word out like poison. "Fear. Cowardice. Weakness. She had to have known the sort of place she was leaving me, she had to have known they would never understand me. She left me at that filthy Muggle orphanage to rot."

Luna's heart felt like a deadweight in her chest with thoughts of a scared young witch, so broken she couldn't get up, not even for her son. A baby without his mother, a child destined to be feared. "Tom," she said.

"Ah, yes, and her final gift to me. My father's name." He looked away from her, finally breaking their eye contact.

Inhaling sharply, feeling as though she had come out of hypnosis, Luna placed her hand on the tabletop to steady herself. She had never felt that way when speaking to someone before, so consumed. Evidently, neither had he, judging by the way he was now looking anywhere but her face.

Luna reached out with a steady hand and pulled one of his books across the table towards her, a volume on medicinal herbs and poison antidotes. She opened the book and began to read. After several moments, the scratching of his quill resumed, and they sat in silence together.

***

On Christmas Eve, with snowflakes falling gently outside onto the blanket of snow already on the ground, Luna once again ran into Tom. Indeed, she ran headlong into him on the landing where the stairs up from the dungeon and the stairs down from Ravenclaw tower met, as she hummed to herself and tried to step on every other stone in the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry, wasn't paying attention," she said.

"A habit of yours, obviously," he said with a frown. "Are you going to dinner?"

"Of course I am, I never miss dinner. You, on the other hand, are very mysteriously absent from meals these days…."

"Well, I'm going now; don't make me regret it," he snapped. "And I've been getting food from the kitchens to eat in my common room. I'm nearly the only Slytherin here. It's quiet."

They started towards the Great Hall together. The four house tables had vanished and had been replaced by a single table, since there were so few students left behind. Headmaster Dippet sat at the head of the table with Professor Dumbledore just to his right. As Tom and Luna entered the Great Hall, Headmaster Dippet called, "Ah, there you are, Tom! Come sit by me, my boy." He gestured to the empty seat to his left.

Tom obligingly sat next to his Headmaster, and with a casual wave of his hand, the vacant chair next to his pulled out. Already in conversation with Headmaster Dippet, it had appeared to be an unconscious action. When Luna did not immediately sit down in the chair, however, he paused in speaking to Dippet to glance up at her with his eyebrows slightly raised. "Are you going to eat standing up?"

She sat down beside him, and when Dumbledore winked at her from across the table, she fought off a smile.

The meal was much more modest than it would be the next day, but delicious as always. As they finished their meal, Luna turned to Tom and asked, "I'm not particularly tired, and I'm not fancying the idea of going back to my common room just yet. Would you like to go for a walk?"

"Outside?"

"Sure. I like the snow."

For a moment, she thought he would refuse. Then he said, "I suppose I have nothing better to do."

They had gotten to the landing where they had collided before dinner and were about to separate to grab their cloaks when Peeves swooped down upon them. "Perfect Prefect and Loony Lovegood have to kiss! Mistletoe!" he screeched, dangling a bit of mistletoe in front of their noses.

Luna quickly took a step back, muttering, "Nargles."

Tom shot a half-quizzical, half-exasperated look at her before turning back to Peeves. "Get lost, Peeves," he growled. "We're not going to kiss."

"Oh, yes you are!" the poltergeist cried with glee.

"I wonder where the Bloody Baron is," Tom mused nonchalantly. "I was just on my way to the dungeons, I'm sure I'll find him…."

Peeves' impish grin immediately dropped from his face. "Fine, bratty brat. If you're going to be that way, you'll make sure Peevesey has no fun at all." He blew a raspberry and threw the mistletoe at Tom's head, where it landed in his hair, before rocketing away through the corridors, banging suits of armor as he went.

Tom was watching Peeves go, looking quite pleased with himself, when Luna rushed over and swept the mistletoe off his head. "Ooh, you're going to have Nargles in your hair, Tom!"

"What are Nargles? Or what do you think they are, I should say. I suspect I don't actually want to know."

Luna opened her mouth to tell him just what a Nargle was exactly, but then changed her mind at his tone of voice. Suddenly a feeling of displeasure began puddling in her belly, indignation at her Nargles being mocked by this boy, this boy so full of darkness even at sixteen. How dare he? She snapped her mouth shut, then muttered, "No, you don't want to know."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" she asked.

"What you're doing, Lovegood," he said, gesturing vaguely at her entire person.

"Stop calling me Lovegood," she retorted. "I have a first name, you know."

"What's gotten into you?" he asked with a mixture of incredulity and acerbity. "I know you're sensitive when your stupid creatures are insulted, but honestly - "

"What's gotten into me?" she repeated, her anger flaring in time with his. "You!" She prodded the center of his chest with her finger. "You've gotten into me! I try to be your friend and be nice, and you...make fun of me, what I think. You're horrible to my friends, my real friends, you're - "

He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back against the wall. "You are being very foolish," he whispered. "If you have even the foggiest idea of what's good for you, you'll stop this right now."

"What? I thought you liked it when people were honest with you?" she said bluntly, without sarcasm. Already her anger was ebbing away, a flash in a hot pan, never lasting long.

Breath hot on her face, he kept her pinned against the wall, his own anger nowhere near dying down. The fingers of his wand hand twitched where they sat on her shoulder.

"I'm not afraid of you," she said, catching the movement.

"Foolish," he repeated in a hiss.

Luna could see the pulse in his neck thudding, wondered if he was coherent enough to feel her own under his hands or if he was too enraged. She counted to seven heartbeats, then said, "Sorry for the outburst, Tom, I've had a bit on my mind the last few days. You really are going to have Nargles in your hair." She reached up and ran her fingers through his black hair.

The rage in his eyes was replaced with surprise. For the briefest moment, she swore the pulse in his neck thudded even faster. He took a step backward, swatting her hand away. "What are you doing?"

"Nargles," she repeated, feeling as though this should be obvious, and a bit worried for his sanity.

"Unbelievable," he snapped, before turning on his heel and storming off, their planned walk in the snow long forgotten.


	10. Christmas

Pick apart the pieces of your heart, and let me peer inside.  
Let me in where only your thoughts have been.  
Let me occupy your mind, as you do mine.  
Your heart's a mess, you won't admit to it.  
It makes no sense, but I'm desperate to connect,  
and you, you can't live like this.  
Heart's a Mess - Gotye

Are you deranged like me? Are you strange like me?  
Lighting matches just to swallow up the flame like me?  
Do you call yourself a fucking hurricane like me?  
Pointing fingers because you'll never take the blame like me?  
Gasoline - Halsey

***

Luna woke on Christmas morning to find a small pile of presents at the foot of her bed. She smiled and leapt out bed to open them. The first package she opened was from Lorraine, who had sent her a slightly smashed homemade chocolate cake. The second was from Lucinda, who had sent her a pair of earrings that Luna found rather boring, though she would wear them to be nice, as well as a book on Transfiguration methods of the twentieth century. Cat had sent her a book as well, called Unproven Magical Species by Ravidius Fibber. Luna gasped with joy at this and immediately began flipping through it, pausing for quite some time to read the entry on Dabberblimps.

Finally, Luna got dressed and left the dormitory to go have Christmas breakfast. The singular table from the night before was still present, and Tom's black hair shined under the cold, morning light beaming down from the enchanted ceiling where he already sat. He was wearing his crisp grey school uniform with his Slytherin tie even on Christmas, though he had gone without his black robes. Luna clucked her tongue at him, glancing down at her own outfit. She was wearing a blouse and below-the-knee length skirt that was appropriate for the decade in which she found herself, but her skirt was a vibrant pink and patterned with white unicorns.

She plopped down beside him immediately. "Happy Christmas, Thomas," she said, helping herself to some eggs and bacon.

Tom closed his eyes briefly, exhaling heavily and steeling himself for conversation with her. When he opened them again, he said, "Don't call me that."

Luna appeared not to notice his retort and began to pour copious amounts of maple syrup onto her bacon.

"That's for the pancakes, you know," Tom said, watching her.

She peered closely at the syrup dispenser. After a moment, she announced, "It doesn't say anywhere on it that you have to use it on pancakes."

Tom rolled his eyes. "Of course not. I'm sure they assume most people have enough sense to know what it's for without putting a sign on it."

"Who's they?" Luna asked curiously as she took a bite of syrup-drenched bacon.

"Nevermind."

"I have a Christmas gift for you."

He looked down his nose at her, dialing his arrogance up as high as it would go. "A gift? From you?"

She nodded and pulled a rectangular box with a velvet emerald green bow around it out of her skirt pocket. "I got it for you in Hogsmeade."

Still seeping smugness, he nevertheless took the box. He turned it over in his long fingers and inspected in from all sides with a look of disdain that did not completely block out his curiosity. "In Hogsmeade? But that was weeks ago."

"Well, I was thinking of you," she said simply, inducing a momentary interval where Tom stopped turning the box over and stilled.

Luna made a point to busy herself with her bacon again, allowing him freedom to open it unwatched. As she appeared uninterested, Tom pulled on the velvet ribbon to untie to bow. He slipped off the lid of the box to reveal an elegant, luxury quill the same emerald as the velvet bow on the box. On the feather barbs, there was a painting in the finest silver lines in the shape of a serpent.

"You got this for me?" he asked after a moment, staring down at the quill.

"Hm?" Luna asked, glancing over. "Oh, yes. Do you like it? I got it for you at Scrivenshaft's, though I painted the snake on it myself. Look!" she pulled her wand from behind her ear and prodded the silver snake with it. The little serpent began to slither up and down the sides of the quill in the way she had Charmed it to earlier.

Tom watched the snake's progress without smiling. He then very delicately placed the quill back in the box, replaced the lid, and pocketed it. "You're quite gifted at Charms," he said stiffly.

She smiled and ignored the fact he hadn't thanked her. "Thank you. Did you get many good presents? I did."

"No."

"Didn't get many good ones, or didn't get many?"

"Both."

Luna set her bacon down. "Why haven't you gotten many presents?"

"I suppose Lestrange and Nott just didn't have much time to go Christmas shopping for me this year," Tom said sarcastically.

She bit her lower lip. "I'm sure they would have poor taste in presents anyway."

"Presumably. Apple juice?" he said, offering her the pitcher.

Unable to stop the grimace that crossed her face despite the unusual politeness he was displaying, she said, "No, thank you, I don't like apple juice." She then leaned over towards him to whisper in his ear conspiratorially, "I don't believe in apples."

***

Goosebumps broke out on back of Tom's neck stood up as she whispered in his ear about apples. Her warm breath brushed along his jawline, the smell of maple syrup on her lips mingling with the citrus in her hair in a not-unpleasant way. Tom shook his head slightly, electing against asking her how one doesn't believe in apples.

"You owe me a walk in the snow," she said, leaning back out of his personal space.

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't owe you anything."

"Well, you did agree to it last night before you got very upset with me for trying to keep Nargles out of your hair, and also, while I'm not fond of the idea of required reciprocity in regards to gifts, I have just given you one, and you haven't gotten a Christmas gift for me."

"I'm going to the library right now, anyway," he said flatly.

She raised her eyebrows back at him, giving her an even more permanently surprised look. "The library? That's very studious of you, on Christmas. You're a very hard worker. No wonder you have the highest marks in every class."

"I've a lot to do," he said as he stood up from the table, but some of the edge was lost from it. He had learned over the past couple of months that her compliments were in general quite genuine, which caught him somewhat off-guard. Slytherins smarming up to him, teachers adoring him, girls flirting with him? That he was used to. This girl? Not so much.

"All right, then, I'll see you at dinner, I suppose," Luna said, already her eyes beginning to daze away as she returned to her head.

Tom didn't respond and started towards the Great Hall. He hesitated in the entrance hall for a moment, feeling somewhat flustered and not sure why. Reaching into his pocket, he felt the box with the quill, assessing that it was really there.

Rather than heading up towards the library, he turned and stepped through the oak front doors for a breath of fresh air. He was chilled as soon as he stepped outside due to his lack of cloak, but he stepped outside nonetheless and peered out on the several inches of snow which covered the grounds.

Something dark in the blanket of white snow caught his eye just a few meters away from the oak double doors. Tom took a few steps towards it. It looked small, grey, and furry. At first, he thought it was a kitten, but as he looked more closely at it, he noted a lion-like tail and enormous ears. He realized it was a baby Kneazle, which had now noticed him and was mewing and shivering pathetically while staring at him.

"Well, go on then," he snapped. "Find someplace warm."

He turned and began to walk back towards the front doors. Suddenly, he felt a searing pain in his right pain. He looked down and saw that the Kneazle had clamped its jaws down into his skin. "Get off me!" he said and kicked his leg violently. This only succeeded in causing the Kneazle to dig its claws into him as well. In all this, he suddenly slipped, falling over and landing in the snow.

Tom now reached down to pry the tiny beast off of him, but it bit his fingers, drawing up pain and blood. "Curses," he growled. The Kneazle landed another bite on his hand. "Fine! I'll take you inside."

The Kneazle immediately stopped attacking his hands and started to purr. Tom scooped it up begrudgingly before standing up himself, soaked through from the snow. "Should have just jinxed you," Tom muttered, to which the Kneazle dug its claws gently into Tom's hand, as though warning him.

Tom entered the castle very cold and very wet. He had just shut the oak door behind him and stood shivering, clutching the Kneazle, and dripping on the stone floor when Luna's voice drifted toward him.

"Tom! What's happened to you?" she said as she emerged from the Great Hall.

The Kneazle was nuzzling his fingers, trying to get him to pet it. Tom scowled.

Luna glided over towards him. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at the ball of fur in his hands.

He made the decision instantaneously, shoving the baby Kneazle into her hands and saying, "Your Christmas present."

Luna inspected the Kneazle, then gasped and smiled in delight. "Oh, Tom, you've got me a Kneazle! I love him! Thank you!" As though oblivious to the fact that Tom was dripping wet, freezing, and hostile, Luna held the Kneazle in one hand then placed the other on his shoulder. In a quick, fluid movement, she stood on her tiptoes and pulled down gently on his shoulder, bringing his cheek just low enough for her to plant a split-second long kiss on it before she scampered away upstairs to play with her new pet.

Tom stood stock still for a few heartbeats, of which he was acutely aware due to the fact his heart was thudding in his ears. He stared at the stairs up which she had disappeared and reached up his hand with Marvolo's ring on it to his face, his fingertips brushing the place her lips had touched his skin, and he felt oddly warm when just a few moments before he had been so cold.

It took his brain, usually so quick, so discerning, several seconds to catch up and to identify the name of what he was feeling. He could hardly believe it, and it was quickly becoming obscured with self-contempt, but he was happy. It was a simple feeling, uncomplicated and unassuming. He was happy he had made her happy.

***

"Why'd you bring that with you?" Tom was frowning at the small Kneazle poking its head out of the pocket of Luna's skirt as she sat down next to him for the Christmas feast. She had tied her long blonde hair in a braid, threading jingle bells into it. Every time she moved her head, the bells tinkled and glittered in the light of the hundreds of candles and fairy lights that were hovering just overhead.

"He wanted to come, of course. I love him, Tom, thanks again. He's quite funny." She scratched under the Kneazle's chin with a fingernail.

Tom felt both pleased and guilty: pleased that she enjoyed his present so much, and guilty because it wasn't really a present at all. He repressed both feelings. "Have you named it yet?"

"First off, he's a boy, not an it."

"Fine. Have you named him?"

"Yes."

Tom waited. Luna was piling mashed potatoes onto her golden plate and did not seem to be inclined to speak further. "Well, are you going to tell me his name?" he snapped.

"Oh, I thought you just wanted to know if I had named him or not," she said. "Well, I've decided to name him Othello."

"Othello?"

"Yes. It's a name from a play by Shakespeare. You've heard of Shakespeare, haven't you? Growing up in the Muggle orphanage."

Tom scowled, the familiar distaste forming in his mouth. "I've heard of him. Some sort of Muggle playwright, isn't he?"

"Yes. Othello is the main character in one of his tragedies. You should read it," she said. "You might like it. It's very dramatic, very dark. Right up your alley."

"Why would I want to read something by a Muggle?" he sneered, words fill with venom.

"Because it has value. It's lovely and sad."

"I'm not going to debate with you about the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic value," he clipped. "But certainly anything written by some idiot Muggle hundreds of years ago would be lacking in intrinsic value."

"Muggles aren't bad, you know. They really aren't all that different from us." She turned part way in her chair to face him better, her face as infuriatingly placid as ever.

"What would you know about it?" he asked coldly, also rotating partially in his seat to return her gaze as though it had been a challenge. He leaned closer to her, his voice low so as to not be overheard by the handful of other students seated at the table. "You grew up surrounded by wizards and witches, didn't you? You didn't grow up with them. I bet you've hardly even interacted with them, living in your nice little magic bubble your entire life. And yet, you sit here -", he said as his eyes swept up and down her person, "- arrogantly presuming to speak from a position of moral superiority to me on matters with which I am acutely better acquainted."

To his utmost irritation, Luna leaned closer into him rather than shying away, the bells in her hair jingling softly. "I don't mean to dismiss your experiences, and I would be very interested in hearing more about them if you would be willing to share them with me. However, I suspect that you feel you are the ultimate authority on a large variety of topics, which simply isn't true," she said quietly back.

Tom's anger flared, but just at that moment, Professor Slughorn had arrived to the feast, seating himself at the table and called, "Happy Christmas, Tom! And to you, Luna! What are you two whispering about over there?" He chuckled, the laughter reaching his bright eyes.

Tom jerked his body away from Luna, sitting upright and turning towards Slughorn. "Happy Christmas to you, sir. We were just discussing if fire seeds or fluxweed would be more useful in a Potion to cure Moonseed poisoning."

As Slughorn happily launched into an explanation to Tom, Professor Dumbledore also sat down at the table, just across from Luna. Dumbledore picked up a wizard cracker off pile on the table and offered one end to Luna. "Cracker, Miss Lovegood?" he asked with a smile.

Luna responded with a similarly benign smile and yanked on the proffered end of the cracker. A bang like a cannon echoed across the Great Hall and a cloud of blue smoke engulfed their end of the table. Once the smoke cleared, Tom saw that the cracker had produced an enormous American cowboy hat and deck of Exploding Snap cards.

Tom watched as Luna and Dumbledore traded the hat back and forth, each trying it on to the polite applause of the other, their individual dottiness only reaching new heights when together. He frowned and shook his head in disbelief, thinking that perhaps they really were related after all.


	11. Loneliness

Am I loud and clear, or am I breaking up?  
Am I still your charm, or am I just bad luck?  
Are we getting closer, or are we just getting more lost?  
I'll show you mine if you show me yours first.  
Let's compare scars, I'll tell you whose is worse.  
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words.  
Swing Life Away - Rise Against

***

On Boxing Day, after a great deal of wheedling during breakfast, a happy Luna walked beside a sullen Tom on a walk around the grounds, as Othello the Kneazle rode along in the pocket of her cloak. Their breath frosted in front of their mouths as they walked, their footsteps crunching in the snow.

"What do you want to do when you're done with school, Tom?" Luna asked. "You'll have so many options available, you're the top student at Hogwarts."

"I'm not sure."

Glancing sideways at him, Luna knew he was being dishonest. "You must have thought about it, and discussed it with Professor Slughorn when you were deciding which N.E.W.T.s to take."

"Of course I've thought about it. I just haven't decided yet. I may work in the Ministry, I suppose, or even here. I've heard Professor Merrythought is considering retiring soon, which means the Defense Against the Dark Arts post will be available."

"You're interested in teaching?" she asked, brows raised.

"You ask far too many questions," he scowled.

"This is what friends talk about," she said.

"When did we decide we were friends, again? I must've missed it."

"Thomas."

"Don't call me that."

Luna bent down as they walked to scoop up a handful of snow and inspected the individual snowflakes. "Personally, I should like to be a Magizoologist when I graduate."

"Been reading too much Newt Scamander, have you?"

"Ooh, look at this one!" she stopped walking and held out her hand with a bunch of snow in the palm.

Tom leaned over to look at the snow. "Which one? You've got about a thousand just there and they're rather indistinguishable."

"This one!" she said, pointing to one of the snowflakes in particular. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"It looks just like all the rest."

"I suspect your sense of wonder has been disabled by Blibbering Humdingers; I've actually been intending to bring it up with you at the appropriate moment," Luna said, feeling a mild level of concern for him as she dusted the snow off her hands.

Tom's eyes rolled towards the sky with scorn, and he started walking again. "There you go, you win, let's talk about our plans for after school. Anything but the bloody Blibbering Humdingers."

"Well, then what is it that you'd like to be?" she asked.

A thoughtful look settled on his face, and Luna was pleased to see he was giving serious consideration to his response. His pale cheeks had faint patches of pink just over his cheekbones from the cold air, and her eyes lingered on them for a moment, this proof of the warm blood inside him under his cool exterior.

"I want to be the greatest wizard that ever lived," he said.

"That's very ambitious," she said.

Tom smirked. "Slytherin."

They had been walking without any particular aim and had now found themselves along the edge of the lake, which was a frozen expanse. They paused beside it, gazing out over the snow-dusted ice.

"What does being the greatest wizard that ever lived mean to you? What do you suppose that looks like?" she asked, twirling a strand of her air about her finger. She had intense curiosity regarding these parts of his thoughts.

Tom brought his hands before him to twirl the black and gold ring on his finger, staring at it as he did so. "The most powerful."

Luna watched each of his movements. "Power?"

"Yes, power. That's all that matters in this world, power."

"There's a number of things that matter in this world," she said.

He laughed, but it was as cold as the air around them. "What? Family? Friends? Good and evil? Love? Life? None of that lasts in the end. It's all subjective and temporary. Power is the only objective measure."

"Objective measure of what?" Luna asked. "What will you do with power when you're dying?"

Tom dropped his hands and looked at her with his usual look of superiority. "Death is just another thing to have power over."

"I suppose Muggles are just another thing to have power over, as well," she said, feeling her nose crinkling in displeasure of its own accord.

"You never quit, do you?" he said, his head tilting as he spoke, as though she were a petulant child.

"What is it about them that you hate so much?"

He met her eyes and the increasingly familiar feeling of vulnerability with an alluring pull that occured when they both were scrutinizing each other fell between them, settling on her like a second cloak. A silence hung between them and Luna knew he felt it too.

"I've already told you. I was raised by them after my mother died."

"What happened?"

Lip curling in the beginning of a snarl, he said, "Have you ever been to one? An orphanage? Crowded. Dirty half the time. I had nothing at all. And I started showing my magic early - just a baby, didn't even speak yet, certainly didn't realize what I was doing, and neither did anyone else. They thought I was touched by the devil, and that's why my mother died after having me."

"What did they do?" Luna asked.

Tom shook his head. "I suppose they thought they could beat it out of me at first. When that didn't work, they chose to isolate me instead. I'm telling you, Lovegood, you have no idea what sort of rubbish you're choosing to so nobly defend."

Luna asked, "Did the other children bully you?"

"They tried," he said.

"What about your father?" she asked, her stomach turning over.

At the mention of his father, the darkness in Tom's face plunged to new depths. "Shameful," he hissed. "My foolish mother, falling in love with a useless, arrogant Muggle, tainting her bloodline. And he abandoned her the first chance he got, before I was even born, even though he knew about me. Even though he had a child."

"Where is he now?" she said, though she knew.

"Dead," he spat.

"How did he die?"

Tom paused, eyes narrowing. "Who knows?" he said after a moment. "Perhaps he simply got what was coming to him."

Changing tack, Luna said, "So, both of your parents let you down, essentially abandoning you. One was a Muggle. But one was a witch. Why don't you hate all witches as well as Muggles, then?"

"I'm beginning to," he said, eyeing her.

An idea occurring to her, Luna brightened and said, "I'll make a deal with you."

"Your deals never tend to be all that enticing," he drawled.

"I'll give you five minutes to try to convince me that Blibbering Humdingers aren't real if you give me five minutes to try to convince you that Muggles aren't as bad as you think."

He snorted. "Lovegood -"

"Luna."

"Luna," he hissed. "What is the point? You know we'll never agree."

"Perhaps it will be interesting. You go first." She glanced at her watch. "Go."

Tom gaped for a minute, caught off guard. "Well - Blibbering Humdingers...that is to say, they don't exist."

"Mhm, yes, and?" Luna said, nodding her head and listening politely.

"No one's ever actually seen one. I mean, no one credible," he added as she opened her mouth to tell him about Edric the Weird. "This is my five minutes!" he said. Luna shut her mouth. "It's simply made up. I don't know what else to say. You can't prove a negative." His face soured.

Luna glanced at her watch again. "You still have four minutes and eleven seconds left."

"I already told you, there's nothing else to say about it," he snapped.

She sighed. "Fine. My turn, then." She turned her back on him and gingerly walked out onto the ice of the lake. Although she wasn't wearing ice skates, she slid across the surface of the lake. "First of all, you only hate Muggles because you've had personal bad experiences with them."

"Yes, if you call utter mistreatment and a pathetic father who ran away once he discovered my mother was a witch 'bad experiences.'"

"It's my turn, Thomas. Your father. Let's start there. You are angry because he left you and your mother. That's quite a good reason to be angry. But your father is just one man, isn't he? Just like every witch isn't like me -" Tom snorted, "- not all Muggles are like your father."

"Explain away the orphanage, then, Lovegood. That will be a jolly sight harder. There were dozens of Muggles there, children and adults."

"I told you, it's my turn. So you ended up at a Muggle orphanage, because of course, with your mum dead and your dad run off, nobody really knew what you were, did they? And through a series of unfortunate events, you were stuck with more awful Muggles."

"'A series of unfortunate events?' What are you playing at?" Tom interjected. "They're all like that."

"Oh, hush," she said, causing a rather frightening look to cross his face. "I can understand why you feel the way you do about Muggles, Tom. You've had terrible luck. However," she said, spinning once on the ice, "your misfortune is not reason enough to condemn every Muggle, is it? Can you really decide the worth of millions of people based on your experience with a few dozen?"

Tom pretended to ponder her question, then leveled a glare at her. "Yes. Yes, I can."

Luna sighed at him, placing her hands on her hips. "Just because your Muggle dad walked out on you doesn't mean all Muggles would do it," she said.

He plunged his hand into his pocket, reaching for his wand, his lip curling back in a snarl. He stood glowering for a moment, seeming to rock back and forth upon the edge of fury, the process of calculating if it was worth his it to use an Unforgivable Curse on her on school grounds quite apparent on his face.

"Tom, honestly, how do you expect to be a truly great wizard when you're so close-minded?"

"You're unbelievable," he growled, then turned and began to storm back up to the castle.

Luna slid across the ice and back up onto the snow to follow him. "I'm unbelievable? Perhaps you don't realize this, but you're rather unbelievable yourself. You should look at yourself. You're the cleverest boy I've ever met, and yet you insist on making everything significantly harder for yourself. You're only doing it to yourself, you know."

"Leave me alone," he muttered.

Hopping from one of his footprints in the snow to the next, Luna said, "No."

"I don't want to talk to you."

"I don't care."

"Well, maybe you should start."

She reached out and grabbed his arm. He tried to pull away, but she held on, stumbling when he wrenched his arm forward. "Stop." He turned and shoved her rather violently away from him, causing her grip on his arm to pop off as she fell backwards and sat in the snow with a soft thump. Othello mewed indignantly at Tom from Luna's pocket. "Seriously, Lovegood -"

"Luna," she corrected from the ground.

"Seriously, Luna, I think you're taking it very much for granted that I haven't hurt you already," he growled. He turned to go again, but he hadn't gotten far before something very cold and wet hit him in the back of the head. He whirled back towards Luna, hand flying up to the back of his head and feeling snow there. Luna sat staring at him with huge eyes, and Othello was making an odd squeaking noise that could only be interpreted as Kneazle giggles. "Did you just throw a snowball at me?" Tom asked.

Luna nodded.

Tom moved so suddenly that she didn't quite realize what was happening until he was right beside her, grabbing her by the chin, and forcing her to her feet. Ignoring the Kneazle hissing and spitting at him from her pocket, Tom whispered, "Do. Not. Provoke. Me."

Before Luna could respond, Othello leapt from her pocket, darted, and latched his claws into Tom's leg, much like he had when Tom had found him. Tom fell once again the ground, screaming in rage and swiping at the Kneazle. Othello darted back to Luna, who picked him up, unscathed.

Tom seethed on the ground for a moment. "Who names their pet Othello?" he demanded. "Not a normal name."

"Me," Luna said.

"Well, there you are," Tom muttered.

Luna offered a hand to Tom to help him up. "See, this is how you help people stand, not by the chin."

Tom stared at her hand, and Luna was sure that he would refuse to take it, just like he had before. To her surprise, he took her hand and let her pull him to his feet.

***

Feeling quite cold, Tom stalked up to the school with Luna and Othello bouncing along by his side.

"It was just a snowball."

"It was not 'just a snowball.'"

"It was. I didn't put a rock in it or anything."

Tom didn't reply. He didn't even look at her.

"You're being rather silly," she said after a moment.

He snorted. "That's funny, coming from you."

"Why are you trying so hard to make me feel like rubbish?"

Cocking an eyebrow at her, he said, "Oh, you've realized it then? I thought you simply hadn't noticed."

"I'm not stupid." She stopped walking.

Against his better judgment, he stopped, too. "Aren't you?"

"No," she said.

"In my opinion, anyone who thinks Muggles are all right is rather stupid," he said scathingly.

"I don't much care for your opinion, and I honestly, I don't think you do either," she replied with a bluntness that only she could manage.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you certainly don't take your own advice, do you?" she asked. When he said nothing, she continued, "You made a very big deal out of not wanting to be my friend, etcetera, etcetera, and yet here you are."

"That's because you keep following me around. And again, I don't recall when exactly we agreed we were friends."

"That's not entirely true. You followed me to the thestrals."

"To give you detention," he said sharply.

"Which you didn't do."

"Would you like me to give you one retroactively?"

"No, I rather don't enjoy detentions, so I'd prefer it if you didn't," she said with unassuming honesty. "And you also followed me at Hogsmeade."

"After you hit Malfoy?" he asked, a smile coming to his face at the memory.

Luna nodded.

"One time, then."

"It's not just that, and you know it," she insisted.

He scowled at her. "Does it bother you? Because I would be more than happy to leave you alone completely."

"No, I find that I enjoy spending time with you, which I must admit was not quite what I expected."

"Why would you enjoy spending time with me?" he demanded, the words spilling out in his surprise before he could bottle them up.

Luna tilted her head at him, and she looked as pale and pure as the snow all around them. "I find you very interesting, Tom Riddle. You're intelligent, you're ambitious, and you're hard-working. But everyone knows that about you. I rather like the parts of you that you don't let everyone see."

"Which is what, exactly?"

"Your soul," she said, sending a shiver up his spine that had nothing to do with the wintery air. "The part of you that still cares that your father didn't stay for you. The part of you that still cares that you mother didn't save herself for you."

Disgusted with himself for having shared those thoughts with her, he said, "Weaknesses, you mean."

"What makes you human."

"I will make myself better than human."

Luna paused, and the way she looked at him echoed of pity, which infuriated him further. "Why are you so unhappy?" she asked, her eyes sliding out of focus as though lost in thought.

"Unhappy?" he repeated.

She nodded. "Happy people don't get so angry when they're hit with snowballs, and they don't go shoving people, or hating huge swaths of the global population."

"Why do you care?" he snapped.

Blinking, her eyes came back into focus and settled on his own. "Because I see you."

Tom stared at her, short and sure of herself, and he was unsettled by the truth in her words. "What are you up to?" he said abruptly.

Luna was caught off guard. "Sorry?"

"You've been full of lies and secrets from the day we met, persistently following me around trying to be my 'friend'...did Dumbledore put you up to this?" His paranoid thoughts were now spilling out of his mouth as accusations.

"I'm sorry about the lies and secrets, Thomas. If I told you what they were, you would understand why I couldn't tell you what they were."

"That makes sense," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

She reached out to take his hand. "But I want you to know, I'm spending time with you right now because I want to."

Two sides of his brain were warring, one which wanted him to jerk his hand away from her and the other which very much wanted to leave his hand where it was. The result was an awkward twitch that radiated down his arm. He searched her face and again saw nothing but sincerity. Instead of reassuring him as she intended, it further unsettled him, giving the part of him which wanted to pull away the victory. He took his hand away from her. "I don't like spending time with you."

"That's not true," she said. "You let me sit with you in the library the other day."

"A man only has so much energy to expend on pests; I can't chase you off all the time when I have work to do."

"You didn't hurt me Christmas Eve in the hall, even after all your blustering."

"I would have if you hadn't started petting my head and being generally absurd."

"You made sure Malfoy didn't hurt me that day in Hogsmeade."

"I already told you, I didn't do that for you. I had an obligation as a Prefect."

"You petted the thestrals with me and didn't give me detention."

"Wasn't feeling well that night." He was aware that his excuses were sounding less and less convincing.

"You had me sit by you for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner."

"It was a small table."

"You pulled the chair out for me!"

"Headmaster Dippet was watching and thought it polite."

"And you even got me Othello for Christmas!" she said triumphantly.

"Listen, Lovegood," he snapped, out of patience. "I didn't get that stupid thing for you. I found it outside the castle, and it wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed to take it inside. I gave it to you when I saw you because I didn't want to deal with it anymore."

Luna's triumphant look faded in an instant. "Oh."

Further frustrated and disturbed by his own deep-seated moment of guilt, Tom shook his head and turned to walk away again.

"Stop walking away from me like that; I'm not done talking to you," she said in a voice so commanding that his body turned back around before it had consulted his brain.

He gaped at her. "I don't care. I'm done talking to you."

"You're just afraid you might be wrong. You're just afraid to change."

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"Oh, very good, you can be masculine. Don't be ridiculous, Tom, you're more terrified than anyone I've ever met."

Tom expected himself to grow furious at her accusations. Indeed, he wanted to. Instead, he felt flat and blank. He wondered if she might be right.

Luna continued on, growing more passionate by the second. "You're wasting your life away. When was the last time you laughed? I've seen you snigger and smirk, but I'm talking about a real, deep, genuine laugh that goes all the way to your eyes, that makes you happy to be alive in precisely the moment you're in? I've never seen that. You're the smartest wizard I've known, and you're also the one who knows the least." When she finished, she was breathing just a bit too hard and her eyes were shining just a bit too much.

She watched him for a moment, as though waiting for him to say something. Tom's brain was running at high speed, lurching from one feeling or thought to the next, but it was, for once, failing him. He did not have a response. After a few seconds, Luna averted her eyes away from him and carried on her way, back into the school without another word, leaving him very cold and very much alone.


	12. Apples

My wave, my shark, my demon in the dark,  
the blue tide pulling me under.  
Or are you my soul, my heart, pull everything apart?  
Are you gonna, are you gonna be my love?  
Shark - Oh Wonder

***

The following morning, when Luna emerged from the Ravenclaw common room, it was to find Tom waiting at the bottom of the spiral staircase up to the Tower. He was leaning against the wall across the corridor, hands in his pockets, staring at the ground and chewing on his lower lip. He appeared lost in thought, and he did not look up until Othello meowed at him from Luna's pocket.

"Oh!" He stood up straight. "Good morning."

Luna eyed him, the faintest bit wary. "Good morning."

Tom appeared to struggle for words for a moment, opening then shutting his mouth several time. Then he grimaced and said, "If you're going down to breakfast, we should walk together."

After searching his face for several long moments, Luna nodded. Without another word, they fell into step, side by side on their way to the Great Hall, walking in silence the majority of the way.

"You were quite frustrating yesterday," she said as they approached the breakfast table.

"So were you," he shot back, as he again pulled her chair out with a wave of his hand.

"I feel you were a far sight more frustrating," she replied, sitting down in the chair.

"I strongly disagree," he said, sitting down next to her.

Luna inspected him, and he met her gaze. Then she smiled. "You're exasperating."

"You're infuriating," Tom said. The faintest lopsided smirk crept onto his face despite his stern voice and raised eyebrow.

This seemed to settle the matter.

The next handful of days, the two were bordering upon inseparable. They met for every meal; Tom began to gain back some of the weight he had lost over the past few weeks, his pale face regaining some of its color, the dark circles under his eyes disappearing. He didn't argue when she followed him to the library each morning, where the whiled away hours together, sometimes engaging in conversation, and sometimes in silence side by side as they pursued their individual interests. In the afternoons, they either returned to the library or went for long walks around the school grounds.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, the two of them were in the library as per their new usual. They were seated at one of the tables, numerous books spread around them, but Luna had cleared an area just in front of them and was scribbling away at a piece of parchment.

"What is that?" Tom asked, looking down his nose at the drawing Luna was making for him.

"It's a Blibbering Humdinger, Thomas."

"Stop calling me that. It's not even my name, Lovegood."

"Stop calling me Lovegood, then."

"At least Lovegood is your actual name."

"Look at this, Tom, look at the way its wings are…." And out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn he bit back a smile in spite of himself.

She was just in the process of explaining that the Humdinger's saliva was said to have properties more powerful than those of dragon blood when a voice behind them interrupted. "Excuse me, Miss Lovegood?"

Both Tom and Luna turned around in their chairs to find Albus Dumbledore behind them. "Yes, sir?" Luna asked.

"I apologize for interrupting. I chose to wait until after breakfast since you two seemed so deep in conversation throughout the meal." Dumbledore was smiling, his eyes twinkling. "However, would you please come meet with me in my office for a few minutes?"

"Of course," Luna said, standing. She following him back to his office in which she had sat over three months prior. They resumed their previous positions on either side of the desk, and once Dumbledore had settled in to gaze at her over steepled fingers, Luna asked, "Have you found a way to send me back, sir?"

"Very shrewd of you, Miss Lovegood. Perhaps I just wanted company for my morning tea and crumpets," Dumbledore said.

"Well, that's quite all right, too, I love crumpets, and I rather enjoy your company."

Dumbledore chuckled. "I'm afraid you were correct in your assumption as to why I brought you here. However, I have not as yet discovered a way for you to return to your own time. I am attempting to make a reverse Time-Turner, which proving to be even more difficult that I had imagined."

Luna did feel somewhat disappointed, though she was far more curious about the hint of relief she felt at the same time. "That's all right, Professor."

"You will have to remain in the past for at least a while longer," he added, eyeing her.

"I'm doing well here. I don't mind. I've made friends here," she replied.

"Yes, I've noticed. Miss Litner, Miss Viridian, and Miss McTavish have continued to be your companions throughout the last weeks."

"Yes, I adore them. I do miss my friends from my own time, but having Cat, Lorraine, and Lucinda here makes it much more pleasant. I'm becoming very close to them."

"I've also noticed you're spending quite a bit of time with Tom Riddle, despite your potions partnership having concluded some time ago."

Luna gazed back at Dumbledore, feeling him search her face, much as he had the first time he had brought up Tom to her and implied she should reach out to the boy. She would have liked to have discussed the matter plainly with Dumbledore, but knew she could not due to his request that she not discuss the future with him.

"Did Tom by any chance mention that today is his birthday?" Dumbledore asked.

She raised her eyebrows. "No, he didn't mention it at all."

"I'm not surprised. I've noticed that he rather enjoys cultivating a bit of an enigmatic persona. Not unlike some other brilliant witches and wizards I have known."

"It's a very important birthday," Luna said. "His seventeenth. He's of age."

Dumbledore nodded. "A very important birthday, indeed, for a wizard."

"I suppose if he'd wanted presents he would have made a point to tell me it was his birthday," Luna said, chewing on her bottom lip.

"I suspect he is not accustomed to receiving presents for his birthday, given his upbringing and that the date always falls on winter holiday here," Dumbledore added.

"Yes, I suspect you're right. He was extremely uncomfortable when I gave him a Christmas present."

"I imagine he was. That was a very kind thing for you to do." Dumbledore leaned forward in his chair. "Miss Lovegood, I will be frank with you. Tom Riddle is quite a worry to me. I encourage your friendship, so long as it is something for which you also wish."

"It is," she replied without missing a beat, without having to think about it.

Dumbledore smiled at her kindly and peered over the rims of his glasses. "You may be, as they say, just what the Healer ordered."

Luna returned the smile. "Thank you, sir."

***

"What are your plans tonight?" Luna asked Tom that night at dinner.

"My plans?" he repeated.

"Yes. Around, oh, half past eleven or so."

"Nearly midnight? What are my plans at nearly midnight?" He stared at her.

"Yes." She ignored his stares, buttering a dinner roll. "I should like for you to meet me in the Astronomy Tower, however, if you have other plans, I understand, as I have asked you on quite short notice."

"Lovegood, what plans do you think I have at nearly midnight when the school is empty?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea, but you're a very busy and mysterious man. I thought it would be polite to ask if you had plans before inviting you."

He was intrigued in spite of himself. "What on earth do you want me to meet you in the Astronomy Tower so late for?"

"I intend on leaving that to your imagination."

Tom narrowed his eyes at her, but he did not push any further, knowing that she expected him to and not wanting to give her the satisfaction.

Later that night, after a great deal of deliberation and attempting to talk himself out of going, Tom gave a heavy sigh and hauled himself up off a couch in the Slytherin common room. He snatched his cloak. Feeling more and more frustrated with himself every step of the way, he left the common room and headed towards the Astronomy Tower.

When he exited the spiral staircase on top of the Astronomy Tower, stepping outside into the cold December night, it was to find Luna already there. She was seated in one of the wide crenels of the battlement, leaning her shoulder against the stone of the merlon to her left, her feet dangling off the side of the tower. She had the hood of her cloak down, and her face was turned upward, toward the sky.

"That's not the safest place to sit, now is it?" he asked from behind her.

Luna glanced over her shoulder at him. "Perhaps not. I like it, though. Come sit next to me."

Tom was not enthused about sitting on the edge of the highest tower in the castle. "Why did you ask me to come here?"

"Well, I heard it was your birthday."

This was not what he had expected her to say. "And?"

She patted the stone next to her, indicating where she would like him to sit. "And I thought it might be nice to sit with you in the last moments of your seventeenth birthday and welcome the new year together. It isn't every night you turn seventeen."

"No, I suspect it only happens once," he snarked. But he edged closer, hands clasped behind his back until he sat down beside her with care, vertigo washing over him as he dangled his own feet over the edge of the tower and he looked down into the blackness below. "What makes you think I would want to spend my seventeenth birthday with you?" he asked.

"Well, if you didn't want to, you wouldn't be here, would you?"

He avoided her question. "I could be sleeping right now. I've been very tired lately."

"Why have you been tired lately?" she asked, turning her eyes on him that shone like the moon.

His mind raced towards thoughts of diaries and fathers and fractured souls. His eyes darted towards the ring on his finger on the hand between them, the one whose knuckles were paler than the rest of his hand from gripping the edge of the stone, then back to her face. He was more sure than ever she could tell exactly what he was thinking, but he lied anyway. "You know I don't sleep well."

"Mm," she hummed.

Tom was struck by how much she could communicate to him without saying a word. In one little sound she had conveyed all her sentiments to him. It was thoughtful and noncommittal. It was infuriating in its obviousness that she did not believe him but would not say so. He looked away from her, mimicking her earlier stargazing.

After a moment, she returned her gaze to the sky as well. They sat in silence for some time. A shooting star burst into light and blazed across the night sky before disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

"Did you make a wish?" she asked, her soft voice breaking the stillness of the cold night.

"Of course not," Tom said.

"Why not? I did."

"Because it doesn't matter. It's not real."

"You've never wished on a shooting star?" Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her face turn towards him again.

Tom paused. He thought of late nights in his orphanage window, sitting alone. Resentment and anger twisted knots in his chest like old friends. "I have before."

She did not ask any additional questions. Instead, she turned her eyes away from him once again, and a few moments later, he felt the edges of her hand touching his own where they both were gripping the edge of the stone between them. It was the faintest touch, just the borders of their skin pressing against one another along the side of their hands. Her skin was warmer than his. He did not move his hand.

Luna lifted her other hand to glance at her wristwatch. "It's nearly midnight. Your birthday is almost over. It's almost a new year."

"None of these are things I particularly care about," he said, rolling his eyes, even as his mind was preoccupied with rather repetitive thoughts about the few inches of her skin touching his.

She ignored him. "Let's countdown to 1944 together." Holding her arm across her so that he could see the watch too, they watched the second hand tick towards midnight. Thirty seconds...twenty seconds...Luna was now leaning her right shoulder into his left, and he was very aware of her weight against him. When there were only ten seconds left, Luna started to count out loud, her breath frosting between them. "Ten...nine…."

Tom felt his heart pick up its pace in his chest, and he cursed it, loathe that she might be able to feel it.

"...three...two...one." All three hands of her watch were pointing to the twelve for a moment that hung in time, then the second hand carried on its way into the new year.

Tom was caught by surprise when Luna turned towards him, wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him. His entire body stiffened as though frozen in the winter night. Then the hug was over, extinguishing just like the shooting star.

"Happy new year, Tom," she said, giving him a benign smile. "And I hope you had a happy birthday."

After blinking at her in bewilderment for a moment, Tom stood up and backed away from her several steps. "Happy new year," he said in a stilted voice. "I need to go to bed now. You've kept me up quite late enough with this nonsense."

Smile untouched, she nodded, watching his progress. "Of course. Goodnight. Sleep well."

Without another word, he turned on his heel, cloak swishing in the night. He slipped back in through the door and began descending the stairs of the tower, breathing just a bit harder than normal. By the time he had returned to the Slytherin common room, he had regained his self control, feeling calm again. It was simple. He just wouldn't tell her that it was the birthday he had enjoyed the most so far in his life.

***

Before Luna knew it, the other students had returned from their vacations, and it was the morning of the first day of the new term. She was seated at the Ravenclaw table, listening politely as Cat raged on about how obnoxious she found her four younger brothers.

"Of course, they're always horrible. I'm the only magical one in the family. They're so jealous, it makes them sick. So they know I can't do magic away from school, and I tell you, they take full advantage of it every break, the miserable gits." Cat rambled on and on, inducing Lorraine to roll her eyes from behind the book she was reading, and Lucinda to stand up in the middle and move farther along the table to flirt with boys.

Cat paused mid-rant to breathe, then to offer Luna a silver pitcher and say, "Apple juice, Luna?"

Before Luna could decline, a voice from behind her said, "She doesn't like apple juice."

Luna, Cat, and Lorraine all turned to look at who had spoken. Tom Riddle stood there, hands clasped behind his back, looking down his nose at them.

Cat side-eyed Tom with suspicion, then glanced at Luna. "You don't like apple juice, Luna?" she asked.

"I don't believe in apple," Luna answered, shaking her head.

Cat opened her mouth, most likely to ask how someone could not believe in apples, but Tom interrupted. "Are you ready for Potions?" he asked Luna, a hint of impatience creeping into his voice, his eyes darting around the Great Hall.

Luna glanced to Lorraine, who also would be heading to Potions, but Lorraine waved her on ahead, a tinge of pink in her cheeks as she avoided eye contact with Tom. "You go ahead," Lorraine muttered. "I'll wait for that one down there." She jerked a thumb down the table towards Lucinda, who was laughing with several seventh year boys.

Standing, Luna gathered her books. "I'll see you, then," she said to her friends, then left with Tom, leaving Cat gaping at her retreating back. As they crossed the Great Hall, Luna noted that Tom seemed surlier than he had been over the holidays, with the corners of his mouth and eyebrows being tugged downwards as though due to gravity. "What's the matter?" she asked him.

He glanced over his shoulder at the other students in the Great Hall, many of whom had been watching the two of them leave together with great interest. Waving a hand back at the other students in a vague gesture, Tom said, "That's what the matter is."

Luna performed an about face in the entrance of the Great Hall in order to stare back at the other students, who giggled and started whispering to each other. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on," he snarled, tugging at her elbow to keep her moving. Once she had fallen back into step beside him, he said, "They were all staring at us."

"People always look at me that way," she said, just as she began to hop from one stone in the corridor to the next with her feet together as though she were in a Leg Locker Curse.

Tom rolled his eyes. "Yes, but they don't look at me that way."

"Oh, I see. You don't want to be friends now that school's back in," she said, continuing to hop alongside him one step at a time as they descended the stairs to the dungeons.

"That's not what I said," he snapped.

Luna was pleased he hadn't argued that they weren't friends again. "Does that mean you'll be my partner in Potions again?" She reached the bottom of the staircase with a final jump and turned to look at him.

"Well, I - I mean, I don't know. The Slytherins won't shut up about it if I do…."

"Does it matter?" she asked, blinking at him. To her surprise, her breath seemed caught in her throat as she waited for him to answer. When was the last time she had assigned a great deal of value to if someone was willing to be seen with her or not?

Tom inspected her face and seemed to be weighing his options. Then he shook his head. "I suppose they'll just have to learn to get used to it. I can do what I bloody well want."

Luna beamed at him, then they continued to the Potions classroom. As they settled in at the front table at which Tom always sat, Lucinda and Lorraine walked in. When they saw her sitting with Tom, they began to giggle and grin. "I'll be working with Tom today, if that's all right," Luna told her friends.

"Sure, Luna, of course," Lucinda replied, then they continued on toward their usual table.

A few moments later, Malfoy and Nott walked in from the corridor just as Slughorn appeared from his office off the classroom. Slughorn was busy greeting some of the other students, and sour looks appeared on Malfoy and Nott's faces as they saw Luna sitting beside Tom.

"What is this, Riddle?" Malfoy snarled. "Her again? I thought you would have taken care of this by now."

"Did you two get cozier over the holidays?" Nott said with a chuckle.

"Unless I am much mistaken, I don't need to explain myself to either of you," Tom drawled back. "And besides, Lovegood here happens to be much more adept than either one of you worthless gits at brewing potions."

"Language, Tom!" Slughorn had bustled over to say hello. "But I'm afraid he's right, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Nott. Your exams at the end of last term were certainly lackluster. Miss Lovegood here, on the other hand, achieved the second best scores! After only Tom, of course." Slughorn beamed at Luna and Tom.

"Thank you, sir," Tom said in an unctuous tone.

"Yes, thank you, sir," Luna repeated, but her eyes were on Malfoy and Nott, who were slinking away to another table with sullen faces, looking cowed.

Once Slughorn had moved on to the front of the room to begin his lecture at the beginning of class, Luna whispered to Tom, "Why are they so afraid of you?"

Tom chuckled, sending a shiver down her spine. "You don't want to know."

Deciding if he wasn't going to talk, she could at least put the time together to good use, Luna pulled out the drawing of the Humdinger she had been drawing for him over the holidays.

"Why did you bring that?" Tom hissed once Slughorn's brief lecture concluded, staring at the drawing with obvious distaste. "We're supposed to be working on our potion."

"Because I wasn't done explaining it to you, Tom. Now, look…." She babbled into Tom's ear as he mashed their beetles into a fine powder, telling him all that she knew about the Humdinger. It was just as she started on the great Humdinger migration of 1827 when the piece of parchment with the drawing on it caught fire in her hands. "Oh!" she cried, dropping the parchment.

A few Slytherins around them snickered.

Luna watched the parchment curl into flames on their table top for a moment, then a jolt of excitement raced through her and she gasped. "Ooh, Tom, it must have been a heliopath! They can turn invisible when they want to!"

Tom, not seeming to share her excitement, instead looked at her incredulously as he tucked his wand back into his pocket. Luna spent the rest of the class in a buzz of enthusiasm, convinced she had had contact with a heliopath. Tom did not contradict her.


End file.
